Some of the biggest ports in the US face major disruption ahead of the peak holiday season due to backlogs created by a surge in demand and equipment and labour shortages.
David Goldberg, head of ocean freight for DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific, warned that transpacific container trades are having to wait between six and 21 days as trucks and vessel queues at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have grown in recent weeks.
“Vessels are also sitting at anchor for two to five days waiting for a berth,” he told Lloyds List. “Vessel discharge is taking three to five days longer due to the lack of labour and because the terminals have run out of room to unload the vessels.”
The problems has been made worse by workers at some Pacific Northwest ports operating ‘go-slows’ in protest at delays to contract negotiations with port operators represented by the Pacific Maritime Association.
Niels Erich of the Transpacific Stabilisation Agreement which represents most major lines on the trade, told Lloyd’s Loading List.com that the current situation was a “perfect storm” which highlighted the fragmented nature of US logistics infrastructure and the operational challenges this created.
“Terminal consolidation and congestion, longshore labour negotiations, a transition in chassis management and shortages of truck and rail capacity have all combined with sustained peak season demand to back up cargo in the terminals and, increasingly, aboard ships awaiting a berth,” he said.
Erich warned that delays are likely to continue into 2015.
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