You need reliable congestion signals for the New York–New Jersey (USNYC) port that your transportation systems can consume without scraping or guesswork. By the end of this guide, you’ll know exactly how to call the FreightPulse Port Congestion endpoint for USNYC, interpret its IMF PortWatch–based methodology (lagged by ~6–7 days), and wire the 7‑day average versus 90‑day baseline signal into your planning dashboards, ETL jobs, and alerts—without confusing it for live AIS wait times.
What this congestion metric is (and is not)
The FreightPulse port congestion metric for New York–New Jersey (USNYC) comes from IMF PortWatch. That means the series is:
- Lagged ~6–7 days from “now” (it is not real-time vessel AIS wait times).
- A 7‑day average compared to a 90‑day baseline, intended to smooth daily noise.
This helps transportation teams normalize short-term volatility and evaluate whether conditions are tighter or looser relative to a recent baseline. Do not use it as a live estimate of berthing queues or anchorage dwell; use it to track trend context that updates after IMF’s publication lag.
No official congestion JSON is published specifically for USNYC. You can still query the endpoint and implement robust handling for missing or delayed ticks, as described below.
Endpoint, auth, and quotas
All requests use the FreightPulse API with header-based auth:
- Auth header: X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY
- Guests without a key: 100 requests/day per IP
- Response envelope: {"success":true,"data":{...}}
USNYC query:
- Port code: USNYC (New York–New Jersey)
- HTTP method: GET
- Endpoint: https://freightpulsehq.com/api/v1/port-congestion
- Query parameter: port=USNYC
Field names in data:
- congestion — 7‑day average congestion indicator (IMF PortWatch derived)
- ratio_vs_baseline — the 7‑day vs 90‑day baseline signal
- as_of — the effective date of the latest tick (lagged ~6–7 days)
Documentation: Documentation
Copy‑pasteable curl request for USNYC
Use YOUR_API_KEY as shown; do not substitute a real key in shared code or docs.
curl -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" "https://freightpulsehq.com/api/v1/fuel-prices"Example JSON and the fields you’ll read
The response is wrapped in a success/data envelope. Because there is no official congestion JSON published specifically for USNYC, treat this as a schema example with official nulls (not live values):
{
"success": true,
"data": {
"timestamp": "2026-09-30T16:21:59+00:00",
"source": "EIA (U.S. Energy Information Administration)",
"currency": "USD",
"unit": "gallon",
"data": {
"diesel": {
"national_average": 6.382,
"change_week": -0.147,
"change_percent": -2.25,
"updated_at": "2026-09-28",
"regions": {
"east_coast": 6.137,
"midwest": 6.526,
"gulf_coast": 5.955,
"rocky_mountain": 6.407,
"west_coast": 7.357,
"california": 8.181
}
},
"gasoline": {
"national_average": 4.465,
"change_week": -0.013,
"change_percent": -0.29,
"updated_at": "2026-09-28",
"grades": {
"regular": 4.465,
"midgrade": 5.073,
"premium": 5.482
}
},
"bunker_fuel": {
"available": false,
"note": "No known free source (Rotterdam/Singapore/Houston) — requires a paid provider (e.g. Ship & Bunker, Argus)."
}
},
"historical": {
"diesel_30d_avg": 6.291,
"diesel_90d_avg": 5.561,
"diesel_yoy_change": 72,
"gasoline_30d_avg": 4.355,
"gasoline_90d_avg": 4.111,
"gasoline_yoy_change": 42.9
}
},
"meta": {
"request_id": "4a34de71-62bf-4a42-9c3e-f5a7b3a0f792"
}
}Field usage:
- congestion: numeric indicator representing the 7‑day average congestion level derived from IMF PortWatch. Use it to trend current conditions once the lagged tick is available.
- ratio_vs_baseline: comparison of that 7‑day average to the 90‑day baseline. Use it to determine if conditions are tighter or looser than the recent norm.
- as_of: ISO-8601 date for the tick. Logic dependent on timeliness—remember the ~6–7 day lag.
Practical handling tips:
- Expect null or absent values when a fresh tick has not yet been published. Implement retries or backfill from your last known good value if appropriate for your workflow.
- Interpret timestamps as UTC unless otherwise stated; apply your own display timezone at the edge.
- Avoid conflating this signal with live AIS berth/anchorage wait times—this is a lagged, smoothed series.
Python example: calling USNYC and reading congestion signals
This snippet demonstrates a single request, basic null handling, and safe extraction of the fields you actually need. Replace YOUR_API_KEY at runtime only.
import os
import requests
API_KEY = os.getenv("FREIGHTPULSE_API_KEY", "YOUR_API_KEY")
URL = "https://freightpulsehq.com/api/v1/port-congestion"
PARAMS = {"port": "USNYC"}
HEADERS = {"X-API-Key": API_KEY}
def fetch_usnyc_congestion():
resp = requests.get(URL, headers=HEADERS, params=PARAMS, timeout=15)
resp.raise_for_status()
payload = resp.json()
if not payload.get("success"):
raise RuntimeError("API indicated failure")
data = payload.get("data", {}) or {}
congestion = data.get("congestion") # 7-day average (IMF PortWatch derived)
ratio_vs_baseline = data.get("ratio_vs_baseline") # 7-day vs 90-day baseline
as_of = data.get("as_of") # ISO date (lagged ~6–7 days)
# Defensive handling for lag/missing data
if congestion is None or ratio_vs_baseline is None or as_of is None:
# Decide whether to backfill, skip, or alert
return {
"fresh": False,
"congestion": congestion,
"ratio_vs_baseline": ratio_vs_baseline,
"as_of": as_of
}
return {
"fresh": True,
"congestion": congestion,
"ratio_vs_baseline": ratio_vs_baseline,
"as_of": as_of
}
if __name__ == "__main__":
result = fetch_usnyc_congestion()
print(result)Integration checklist for transportation teams
Use this to move from test calls to production consumption for New York–New Jersey (USNYC):
- Auth and quotas: include X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY in every request; without a key your IP is limited to 100 requests/day.
- Polling cadence: IMF PortWatch updates are lagged ~6–7 days. Poll daily or every few hours for freshness detection, not for intra-day moves.
- Caching: cache the last successful payload for at least 24 hours to reduce redundant calls and shield dashboards when the newest tick is not yet posted.
- Null-safe logic: treat congestion, ratio_vs_baseline, and as_of as nullable. Do not hard-fail pipelines; prefer backfill or “data pending” UI states.
- Timezone and units: as_of is a date (assume UTC). Congestion and ratio_vs_baseline are dimensionless indicators, not minutes/hours or currency.
- Baselines: your alerting should reference ratio_vs_baseline to normalize seasonality; avoid absolute thresholding on congestion alone unless you maintain your own historical context.
Deployment patterns that avoid confusion with live AIS
Because the data is lagged and smoothed, pair it with your live telemetry rather than substitute it:
- Use congestion and ratio_vs_baseline to size routing risk windows for the coming week, not to dispatch a tug in the next hour.
- For operations dashboards, present a “Trend (7‑day vs 90‑day, lagged ~6–7 days)” section separate from “Live AIS” widgets to eliminate misinterpretation.
- Annotate tick timestamps in tooltips with “as_of (UTC)” to clarify that numbers reflect the date IMF published, not your query time.
Error handling, retries, and observability
Even when there is no official JSON published for USNYC, your service should behave predictably:
- HTTP errors: retry idempotently with exponential backoff (e.g., 429/5xx). Do not hammer the endpoint—respect your quota.
- Success with empty data: treat as a soft cache miss; serve the last good tick and surface a non-blocking warning.
- Schema guards: validate that the response is in the {"success":true,"data":{...}} envelope before reading fields.
- Change management: fields documented here are congestion, ratio_vs_baseline, as_of. Do not depend on undeclared keys.
JavaScript (fetch) alternative
If your transportation app is browser-based or Node-backed, this minimal example shows the same read path:
async function fetchUSNYC() {
const url = "https://freightpulsehq.com/api/v1/port-congestion?port=USNYC";
const res = await fetch(url, {
headers: { "X-API-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY" }
});
if (!res.ok) throw new Error("HTTP " + res.status);
const payload = await res.json();
if (!payload.success) throw new Error("API indicated failure");
const data = payload.data || {};
const { congestion, ratio_vs_baseline, as_of } = data;
// Handle lag or missing values gracefully
return {
fresh: Boolean(congestion != null && ratio_vs_baseline != null && as_of != null),
congestion,
ratio_vs_baseline,
as_of
};
}
fetchUSNYC()
.then(console.log)
.catch(console.error);Testing, staging, and rollout
Prior to production:
- Use a staging key and environment to validate envelope, headers, and error paths.
- Add synthetic tests that simulate null congestion or ratio_vs_baseline so your UI/messages remain coherent when data is pending.
- Record and alert on drift between as_of and current UTC date beyond 10 days; that typically signals an upstream data gap or a failure in your ingestion.
Security, privacy, and key management
Do not hardcode real keys in client-side code that ships to browsers. If you must call from the client, proxy through your backend where you can add rate limits, audit logs, and caching. Keep YOUR_API_KEY only in secure server-side config or a secrets manager.
FAQ
Is this live vessel wait time for New York–New Jersey (USNYC)?
No. It is a lagged (~6–7 days) IMF PortWatch–derived 7‑day average with comparison to a 90‑day baseline. It is not live AIS wait time.
What fields should I rely on?
Read congestion, ratio_vs_baseline, and as_of inside the {"success":true,"data":{...}} envelope. Handle nulls.
Can I quote this as a freight rate or a price?
No. Do not quote a freight-rates USD fare as today’s price; this endpoint provides a congestion signal, not a market fare.
What happens if the USNYC tick isn’t published yet?
You may see nulls or no update for the most recent days. Cache the last good tick and mark the UI as “data pending.”
How often should I query?
Once or a few times per day is typical. The series is lagged; intra-day polling won’t produce more granularity.
Ready to implement USNYC congestion in your transportation stack? Create your API key and start integrating: Register.