Supply Chain Disruption - The Real Problem

[bantar]

In another forum someone noted the backlog of containers at the Savannah, GA port.  Where's Waldo.  Zoom in to find your back-ordered parts.

Waldo is much easier to locate for you tire guys: 

 

Brace yourselves, this isn't on a path to correction.  However, Savannah has a better chance of catching up than any of ports in California. Word is that the CA ports are going to start 24/7 operation, but this doesn't address the real problem: Truckers and Trucks. 
Here's a Savannah article on Trucker Shortage.  Also, who knows how many truckers will be displaced due to the vaccine mandates?  I'm sure that they would just switch to a new role somewhere else with such demand, if it's not a statewide mandate that prevents that.

It's even worse in CA. CA has banned any trucks older than 2011 from operating on their roads.   Wonder what the average age of the fleet is?    Further, CA's AB5 law bans Owner/Operators from operating in CA (but order stayed, in Supreme Court now). Lastly, even if they had truckers to haul containers at night, from the port, the distribution warehouses aren't running night shifts to accommodate. It is a supply chain with many links. Here's a good article that many factors causing the disruption . Sal Mercogliano has a surprisingly interesting YouTube series about container shipping.

And when there's a shortage of truckers, a hike in gas prices and other inflation (tires, etc), then there will be stranded containers because they are offering bargain rates for expensive hauls. Who's going to haul at a loss? There was a recent video that I saw detailing a stuck cargo container, for many months... that may still be there... in Galveston that the owners could not move to Pennsylvania because they didn't allocate/have enough funds to/for the transportation costs. I wonder if the ports hold Auction Wars?

All of these increased shipping costs will be hitting us soon.   Offshore manufacturing may get bested by shipping costs... bringing some manufacturing jobs back to the US.

Last point to ponder.... How many very necessary repair parts for these trucking rigs are stuck in these shipping containers?

[Joe Marconi]

Premium Member Content 

This content is hidden to guests, one of the benefits of a paid membership. Please login or register to view this content.