New Brunswick, NJ, Sept. 22, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- New Brunswick, NJ - September 22, 2026 -
DSCP Smart Fulfillment, a third-party logistics and e-commerce fulfillment company, is drawing attention to newly published container data from the Port of New York and New Jersey that shows softening imports and unusually volatile month-to-month swings at the point in the calendar when fourth-quarter inventory is being received.
According to Port Authority of New York and New Jersey monthly cargo volume data, the port handled 5,193,435 TEUs through July 2026, down 0.3 percent on the same period in 2025. Loaded imports reached 2,621,521 TEUs, down 1.2 percent, while July loaded imports alone were 392,074 TEUs, down 6.7 percent year on year. Rail lifts through July were 395,808, down 3.3 percent.
The monthly pattern rather than the annual total is the concern. Measured against 2025, total volume ran up 4.0 percent in January, down 15.7 percent in February, up 6.9 percent in March, down 8.4 percent in April, up 2.2 percent in May, up 11.9 percent in June and down 3.5 percent in July, according to the same Port Authority of New York and New Jersey data. For context, the port closed 2025 at 8,897,531 TEUs, up 2.3 percent on 2024. A swing of nearly 28 points between February and June makes inbound arrival timing far harder to plan than the annual totals suggest.
The structural picture explains why New Jersey carries the load. Cargo bound for the New York metropolitan market lands at Port Newark and the Elizabeth marine terminal on the New Jersey side, and most of it moves into New Jersey warehouses rather than into the five boroughs, because industrial space inside New York City is scarce and priced against city real estate. Parcel carriers treat the metro as a single ground region, so a warehouse in the central New Jersey corridor reaches Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and most of Long Island in about a day, matching what a facility inside the city delivers. That reality is set out in the company's warehouse location guide.
"Annual port totals tell you the market is steady, and the monthly numbers tell you something quite different," said Elaine Shan, CEO of DSCP Smart Fulfillment. "A container that lands three weeks later than planned is not a shipping problem, it is an inventory problem, and it shows up as an empty product page in December. What protects a brand in a year like this is not distance from the terminal. It is how fast the freight is counted and on the shelf once it arrives."
DSCP Smart Fulfillment operates a fulfillment center in New Brunswick, New Jersey, roughly 35 miles from Manhattan and a short drayage run from the terminals, with a second facility in Pomona, California. When arrival timing is unpredictable, the constraint moves from transit to receiving. Freight counted against the purchase order on the dock and racked the same day becomes sellable inventory, while freight waiting to be identified does not. Orders released before the 5 PM EST cut-off are dispatched the same day at 99.9 percent pick and pack accuracy.
Founded in 2016, DSCP Smart Fulfillment serves more than 2,500 e-commerce brands with a team of over 180 people across its facilities. Services include inbound receiving reconciled against purchase orders, racked and barcoded storage, pick and pack, kitting and assembly, custom packaging, returns processing, and international outbound shipping to more than 150 countries. Further detail is available on the DSCP Smart Fulfillment website.
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For more information about DSCP Smart Fulfillment, contact the company here:
DSCP Smart Fulfillment
Yavuz Saka
+1 657-858-5166
yavuz@dscpsmartfulfillment.com
13 Jules Ln Ste B, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
