We recently posted about the record congestion in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach where over 60 container ships wait at anchor or simply drift offshore awaiting berth space. The port congestion has spread to the East Coast where more than two dozen ships are waiting for dock space off the coast near New York.
The pandemic is largely blamed for the breakdown of the shipping supply chain. Pandemic-related pent-up demand for goods has created a huge trade imbalance with Asia, while labor shortages among longshoremen, truck drivers and other support and logistics staff have slowed cargo moving through the ports and transport hubs. In addition to delays in cargo deliveries, container shipping rates have also skyrocketed. Market rates for a 40′ container have risen from an average of around $1,500 in June 2020 to a record price of over $20,000 in August 2021.
Several major shippers have taken matters into their own hands. In June, Home Depot, the third-largest US importer by volume of ocean containers, announced that it was chartering a containership to meet supply chain delivery shortfalls by the major ship operators.
Last week, the big-box wholesale retailer Costco announced that it was chartering three container ships and leasing thousands of containers to import products from Asia to the US and Canada. Costco is expected to make about 10 deliveries over the next year using these ships, accounting for around 20% of its imports from Asia.
Costco has recently put limits on the amount of toilet paper, cleaning products, and water available for purchase by its customers, blaming port delays and a shortage of delivery drivers.
According to the drivers I have talked to? The problem lays with the port authority. Plenty of trucks standing by waiting to haul the goods. Port Authority is dragging their feet about moving the backlog. Port authority needs to start clearing truckers faster. Instead they want background checks on drivers already cleared.
We whom turn miles to supply your toilet paper are ready to work.
According to the market forecasting firm IndexBox, just 7.5 percent of Americans’ bathroom tissue is imported. … Unlike with other categories of consumer goods, Americans don’t rely on foreign toilet paper because its domestic production is so strong.
Where can I apply for these jobs? I make $40 an hour. If they are so desperate I would to be a longshoreman. I’m well qualified and I hold a TWIC card. I bet they don’t want to hire anyone, they just want to complain and make their existing workers work 80 hours a week because they refuse to hire any new people. Prove me wrong.
Agreed Stan
Stan. Wrong. 100% wrong. There are job fairs in every port. In the Ports of Philadelphia and New Jersey you walk into a hiring hall in the morning and work that afternoon. We can’t find enough people. It’s 24/7 every week. So before you make such a stupid comment do some research first