Approxiimately one-half million shipping containers are stuck on cargo ships awaiting unloading at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, with more arriving daily. More than 160 ships are either at harbor in drift areas, or in the berthing or unloading process--a new record. Most experts believe the backup will last months, even years.
Today, ports giant DP World, owner of 90 ports on six continents, said it sees no relief whatsoever in the global supply chain disruptions. The pandemic and an unexpected spike in recovery, along with a truck driver shortage, rail capacity issues and shipping containers stuck in the wrong places, are causing a record backup. Many had expected this to be a short-term challenge, but recovery, said DP, is not on the radar. Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem told Reuters today, the opening day of Expo in Dubai, it has plenty of capacity but snarls at other ports has backed up ocean transport worldwide.
AEC Magnetics' logistics partners continue to issue stark warnings about delays in offloading, de-vanning and transporting cargo. "Some have suggested the backlog go to alternate ports, but this is not a simple option, or an option at all," said Bill Klaus, president of AEC Magnetics headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A. "Long Beach and Los Angeles are equipped with dedicated infrastructure to receive the cargo. From unloaders to rail to de-vanning and storage to truck to transcontiinental rail services, these ports are built with infrastructure to serve certain types of cargo, certain carriers and so forth. Pulling into a dock at, say, Seattle or San Antonio isn't really an option."
Klaus recommends advancing orders to give the wide berth to shipping variances. "We have an incredible team watching, and reporting on, our cargo from China, but we never know when a snafu will occur, nor how long the snafu will take to resolve." Klaus said a recent shipment made it off the container ship, was de-vanned and shipped, and had almost reached its destination, when it got stuck waiting for truck service. "A lack of truck drivers caused that particular delay. While we do a good job of serving our customers, there are going to be some delays until the situation eases. Order early to lock in skyrocketing shipping costs and give yourself some extra time."