Port congestion in West Coast will be hit hard in August!

"Port on the west coast are expected to be 'hit hard' throughout August, the punctuality rate may drop further and port operations are in a 'stalemate'," the port warned

The shipping terminals in Los Angeles and Long Beach were suspended for 10 hours last week. This was undoubtedly worse for the two ports. It also raised the number of container ships moored in San Pedro Bay near Los Angeles and Long Beach ports to 30.

Maersk said the situation in Southern California had "deteriorated" and that the number of ships moored at the anchorage has doubled over the past few weeks. It warned customers that there would be serious delays.

In addition, the carrier reported further difficulties with two weeks week trucking delays on the east coast and southeast, container retention time increased and chassis supply.

Railway congestion has further exacerbated delays in the delivery of US imports and the return of empty boxes to Asia.

According to the company, the average retention time in the US container has increased by 35%, meaning a 35% reduction in overall capacity.

Lack of trailer drivers, dock workers, lack of chassis frame!

If port congestion is a pain point easy to see, then another more fatal impact may be ignored by most people, that is the shortage of trailer drivers and dock workers!

The shortage of truck drivers has become the most common and serious challenge in the European and American transportation market in recent months.

The industry lacked nearly 61,000 drivers in the year before the ATA, the largest COVID-19 pandemic. The association estimates that driver shortages will reach 160,000 by 2028.

With the outbreak of COVID-19 last year, the situation has undoubtedly become increasingly stretched. Truck driver hiring is far from behind the market.

An American logistics company recently lamented: now the rhythm is a truck driver can only carry a cabinet a day, the port queue in an endless stream. The reason is the shortage of dock workers, not enough manpower to work, no frame!

"Adding insult to injury is the current shortage of rolling stock and limited railway yard capacity, leading to a total reduction in the overall number of services from the West Coast. All in all, chassis availability is the top again in the Pacific Southwest"

US imports will be a record record in August! Maersk urged the customers to return the box as soon as possible

According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), August would seem the crubrutal month to cross the Pacific.

Because when the supply chain has already been overloaded, the number of containers expected into North America will set a new record for holiday season shipping demand. Meanwhile, Maersk also warned that it urged customers to return the containers and chassis as soon as possible amid greater pressure on the supply chain this month.

NRF's global port tracker predicted Friday that U. S. imports would reach 2.37 million boxes in August. This will exceed the total of 2.33 million boxes in May.

NRF called this the highest monthly total since tracking imported containers in 2002. If true, the August figures will increase 12.6% over the same period last year.

In a customer consultation last week, Maersk said it "needed customer critical help" due to increasing congestion. The world's largest container carrier said customers hold containers and chassis much longer than usual, causing import shortages and increased delays at the port of departure and port of destination.

"The mobility of dock goods is a challenge, and the longer the goods stay at the dock, warehouse or railway station, the more difficult the situation is." "We hope the customers will return the chassis and containers as soon as possible, which will give us and other suppliers the opportunity to return the equipment to the high-demand port of departure at a faster speed," Maersk said

The railroad ramp in Los Angeles, New Jersey, Savannah, Charleston, Marine Terminal in Houston and Chicago will extend business hours and open on Saturday to speed up shipments, the carrier said.

Maersk added that the current situation does not seem to end soon.

They said: " We do not ease congestion in the short term.. Instead, the increase in shipments across the industry is expected to continue until early 2022 or longer."