Mega ships bring benefits and challenges to ports of L.A. and Long Beach
18,000 TEU. Wow. So big it has its own container cranes. And LA just had a 15,000 TEU Mersk ship.  The rail transportation corridor out of LA&#x27;s ports can handle only about 12,000 TEU a day, on double-stacked trains.  There&#x27;s not 18,000 TEU of storage space in the entire port, let alone one of the subports.  (The Port of Los Angeles is a landlord, not an operator; there are about a dozen private businesses with their own docks and container handling facilities cranes there.)<p>Sorting is a huge problem.  Some containers go on truck beds at the port, and can head for a destination. The ones that go on trains may need a further sort; some of that happens inland, Fontana, CA and Coulton, CA being major transfer points.