Improvements to Port Newark has made it possible for cargo ships to travel straight to New Jersey for timely unloading - bypassing the backlog in Los Angeles - and creating some improvement in the supply chain crisis.

'It is anything but a direct line from China to New Jersey. And yet a ship leaving China today can save itself nearly two weeks total time by logging thousands of additional miles and coming here,' says Gov. Phil Murphy. 

That's because unlike on the West Coast, there is no line of ships waiting to anchor and unload, which means you'll get your gifts sooner.

The port is operating 24/7 to unload the ships and move the cargo to trucks for delivery to warehouses.

'The Bayonne Bridge has been raised allowing for larger ships, the port and berths have been dredged.  And there are ship-to-shore cranes which rise 130 feet into the air. With four cranes to a ship, it makes for fast work,' says Bethann Rooney, deputy director with the Port Department.

The ships coming in hold about 12,000 containers - 65% will be offloaded within 48 hours. That ship will then move down the East Coast making room for the next ship to move in.

In spite of a national truck driver shortage, trucks are constantly moving out of the port.  The delays are being shifted to the warehouses where containers are stored.

Gov. Murphy says a plan is in place to widen the Turnpike around the port to assist with the flow of trucks to get the cargo to warehouses