Who would have guessed that prices for the container to carry your goods would go sky high? This recent spike is discussed in this article which outlines many of the reasons for the shortages.
Learning about the management of containers in the US is always rewarding. Something is always going wrong. The problem is international right now, though.
By Mike Wackett 24/08/2021
Shortages, congestion and Covid delays push container prices sky-high – The Loadstar
It’s not possible to book shipments anymore with some LTL carriers. Their capacity is full, and they don’t care if they get new customers. OnTrak (which delivers my vitamin pills) and Fedex recently said they were refusing new customers. The claims are that they are out of capacity– not enough planes, trucks and drivers— to deliver everything. There are other less visible bottlenecks, also, such as a shortage of trucks for sale due to the semiconductor shortage. There’s been a sort of crisis in drivers for trucks for quite a while, exacerbated by the recent enforcement of rules to prevent people who fail drug tests from getting commercial driver’s licenses. We wonder why employers don’t pay drivers more, and take more care to create working conditions more favorable to drivers.
Still, common carriers have an obligation to carry the freight presented. It will be interesting to see how far this goes, and when regulators will start crawling through these carriers’ records to see if they are unfairly denying carriage.
Eric Kulisch, Air Cargo Editor Thursday, August 19, 2021
Viewpoint: 2021 is the year of the freight service embargo – FreightWaves
Posted in Logistics, Supply Chains, Trucking
Tagged common carriers, freight, Logistics, transportation, trucking
The saga of the Ever Given, stuck in the Suez Canal for days, goes on. It is sailing again with cargo, but can’t land everywhere, due to restrictions on its propulsion and speed. It is skipping Hamburg.
All this means that many shippers won’t get their cargo soon, despite having paid the general average fees for the disaster. And quite a few have not yet paid the fees.
Anyone who needs the cargo is out of luck till it is discharged and moved on through its supply chain.
I hope the shippers have found alternate ways to get replacement s to those who really needed it on time. But I doubt it.
Ever Given to miss Hamburg call on safety grounds
16 July 2021
Port Technology International Team Ports and Terminals, Shipping Lines
Ever Given to miss Hamburg call on safety grounds – Port Technology International
Posted in Logistics, Service Management, Shipping, Supply Chains
Tagged cargo, container shipping, disaster, intermodal, Logistics, supply chains
Supply Chain Digest Port Technology International Marine Link
Supply Chain and Logistics 