Currently, a large amount of goods are backlogged at major ports in the United States and cannot enter the country’s supply chain.
According to data from the Southern California Marine Exchange database, the number of container ships in the berthing areas of the Los Angeles and Long Beach terminals has exceeded 80, and some container ships need to wait for weeks before starting operations.
The cargo loaded is equivalent to 200,000 shipping containers, many of which are carrying parts and raw materials needed by U.S. factories to produce products domestically, and the backlog has reached an all-time high.
The backlog of ships is not limited to Southern California. According to data from Goldman Sachs, the time it currently takes for ships to ship through seven major U.S. ports is three times the historical norm. .
The Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach announced: Starting from November 1, they will charge new shipping companies Surcharge
A few days ago, the Port of Los Angeles in the United States issued an announcement announcing that in order to improve the efficiency of U.S. port operations and improve congestion, the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach will implement a new policy – to ship The company has imposed a new surcharge that will apply to imported containers stranded at the terminal.
Starting from November 1, the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach will charge shipping companies a surcharge of US$100/box for the following two types of cargo, And the daily increase is USD 100/box.
For the first category, for containers planned to be transported by truck, if the stay time at the terminal exceeds 9 days (including 9 days), the above-mentioned surcharge will be charged to the shipping company.
For the second category, for containers transported by rail, if the stay time at the terminal exceeds 3 days (including 3 days), the above-mentioned surcharge will be charged to the shipping company.
Port of Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero said, “With the growing backlog of vessels along the coast, we must take immediate action to facilitate the rapid removal of containers from our marine terminals. There is a shortage of dock space, which will make room for containers on berthed ships.”
The Port of Los Angeles said the new policy is part of the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach’s supply chain collaboration with the Biden administration The working group, the U.S. Department of Transportation and other supply chain stakeholders jointly negotiated and formulated this as one of the measures to improve the plight of the U.S. supply chain.
The two ports also stated that the fees collected this time will be used to invest in port construction, involving improving port operation efficiency, speeding up freight and solving problems in the San Pedro Bay area. Congestion issues, etc.
John D. Porcari, special envoy to the port of the Biden administration’s supply chain working group, also expressed support for the new fee. He said: “This action Designed to speed up the flow of goods and reduce port congestion. As the economy continues to grow, the surge in transportation demand caused by the epidemic is testing our supply chain.”
“U.S. federal government We will continue to bring together stakeholders in the supply chain and continue to act as a coordinator to help all parties come up with solutions to improve supply chain disruptions.”
However, Shipping companies pointed to inadequate infrastructure at West Coast ports as the reason for delivery delays and argued that their ships were already being punished by the shutdown.
But Lars Jensen, CEO and partner of Vespucci Maritime, said that in addition to stopping shipping ships filled with Asian imports, these shipping companies Nothing can be done. “
The core of the problem is on the land side – shortages of trucks, chassis, rail infrastructure – all of these factors are essentially outside the control of the operators,” he added. Fee said before the announcement.
There is a shortage of 80,000 truck drivers in the United States, and empty containers are an obstacle
CNN (USA) CNN) quoted Chris Spear, president of the Trucking Industry Association, as saying on the 19th that the shortage of truck drivers in the United States has increased by 30% compared with before the COVID-19 epidemic, “which can be called a surge.”
CNN reported that on the one hand, some drivers have retired or left the industry; on the other hand, increased consumer demand for goods has created more demand for truck drivers. Likewise, Stimulus increases in truck driver shortages.
The trucking industry needs to fill 80,000 jobs this year. Some transportation companies offer salaries of US$100,000, plus a US$15,000 signing bonus, in an effort to attract new drivers. The backlog of freight has seriously paralyzed the supply chain.
But industry experts say more drivers will not alleviate the backlog problem at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. At both ports, problems with empty containers have hampered trucks from getting products to consumers.
Currently, a large number of empty containers occupy nearby truck parking lots, hindering container transportation and seriously affecting efficiency.
In order to obtain new orders at the port, truck drivers must first return empty containers to the terminal. But cargo operators refuse to accept empty containers due to limited spacebox. </p
