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The Port of Long Beach, Calif., registered a volume bump from the beginning of the fall peak, when retail goods begin arriving in higher numbers for the year-end holiday season. In August, the port logged 543,445 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs),  up 1.4 percent compared with August 2011 volume.

Loaded outbound container volume increased 5.7 percent to 128,225 TEUs, loaded inbound container volume rose 2.9 percent to 274,977 TEUs and empty container volume fell 4.9 percent to 140,243 TEUs.

"With imports exceeding exports, empty containers are sent overseas to be refilled with goods. With the gains in exports, fewer containers moved back to Asia in August," port officials said in a volume summary.

Meanwhile, the Port of Los Angeles in August registered 706,670 TEUs, down 2.3 percent on a year-over-year basis.

Loaded outbound container volume dropped 10.5 percent to 164,819 TEUs, loaded inbound container counts dipped 4.1 percent to 360,762 TEUs and total loaded container volume declined 6.2 percent to 525,581 TEUs. The number of empty containers increased 11.3 percent to 181,089 TEUs.

Through 2012's first eight months, the port registered 5.44 million TEUs, up 5.1 percent compared with the same 2011 period.