For U.S. ports, there were many bouts of congestion. Demand for goods that were either more or less popular than they would normally be became volatile. Shortages of truckers and other freight service providers wreaked havoc on land-based and maritime transportation networks.

Starting Tuesday, October 1, a strike of 45,000 port workers affecting ports along the Gulf and East Coast could begin. The strike could cost $4.5 billion a day and would come with severe economic repercussions as forty percent of the products imported and exported from the US would be affected.