In recent days, supply chain shortages continue to affect American consumers. Many media outlets have warned that even gifts may not be delivered in time for Christmas this year.
Thousands of containers waiting to be unloaded
According to Long Beach, California Noel Hacegaba, executive director of the port, said that as of Tuesday morning, there were 58 container ships parked near the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Although this is down from the peak of 73 ships two weeks ago, under normal circumstances during non-epidemic times, There are few or almost no cargo ships waiting to dock to unload.
Among them, the average berthing time at the Port of Los Angeles has lengthened to more than 11 days, currently reaching 11.5 days.
This has left thousands of containers stranded on offshore cargo ships, anxiously waiting to be unloaded at the California ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
The ports of New York and Savannah, Georgia, in the United States, also have similar backlogs.
At the Port of Savannah, import volume in the first eight months of this year increased by 30.1% year-on-year, equivalent to a throughput of 1.8 million containers.
Griff Lynch, executive director of the Georgia Ports Authority, pointed out that the “detention time” of containers waiting for shipment at ports has increased from an average of 4-5 days to 12 days. The week has slightly decreased to 9.2 days. He said, “At one point, we were unloading more containers from ships than trucks were driving through our doors.”
According to analysis, the reasons for the slowdown in port operations include the United States Rebounding consumer demand, a lagging freight rail system and a shortage of dockworkers and truck drivers are among the factors.
These problems have also caused freight costs to soar. This stimulated a rise in prices, ultimately affecting American consumers.
At the same time, Panjiva, the supply chain research arm of S&P Global Market Intelligence, predicts that U.S. imports will increase by 4.7% year-on-year in the fourth quarter, setting another record high for the holiday shopping season.
In response to the supply chain crisis, Biden will allow “007” operations of U.S. West Coast ports
U.S. The Biden administration released a plan on the 13th local time that requires the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles in California to operate around the clock. In addition, retail and logistics companies such as FedEx, UPS, Walmart, and Home Depot will also announce on the 13th that they will extend freight operating hours to increase the number of goods. supply.
According to reports, Biden announced 24/7 non-stop logistics measures in cooperation with ports, express delivery, retailers, etc. in his speech at the White House on the 13th. He said the measure was reached after weeks of negotiations and was finally reached by all parties. Biden emphasized that nighttime transportation hours are critical when there are fewer vehicles on the highways.
In addition, Biden called on all private sector companies to cooperate in easing supply chain tensions and threatened to name those companies that did not cooperate.
Anonymous White House officials have revealed that the U.S. government intends to work with the above-mentioned ports and companies to complete a “90-day sprint” task to speed up the flow of goods.
Otherwise, the shutdown or closure of overseas factories and ports caused by the resurgence of the epidemic, coupled with the backlog of port cargo in the United States and the severe shortage of warehouse workers and truck drivers, may hinder the end of the year in the United States. The holiday shopping season is underway.
In September this year, the Port of Long Beach, California, began to adopt this approach, but with little success at the time. It is reported that the number of imported containers in the two major ports in the United States and Spain accounts for about 40% of the United States.
The Biden administration believes that allowing ports to speed up container processing and extending the working hours of freight rail and warehousing logistics is the fastest and most effective way to ease supply chain tensions.
With the arrival of the peak season, shipment volume has surged, and the congestion problem at US ports may not be solved for a while. Will Biden’s order affect U.S. line freight rates this time? What do you think? </p
