Over the past three months, West Coast ports have been handling record-breaking levels of imports from Asia as importers rush to bring in China-sourced inventories before exclusions on Section 301 tariffs expire at the end of the year. Workforces handling the cargo at marine terminals, railroads, and distribution warehouses, however, are having more and more difficulty working through the massive inbound increases. Productivity at Southern California ports has deteriorated causing increased frustrations between truckers, port operators, and ocean carriers.
Labor Shortages
The issues began to develop in the summer, when shortages of workers resulted in distribution warehouses being filled to capacity. Spikes in COVID 19 cases during the summer not only lead to labor shortages, but, for safety purposes, workers at warehouse facilities were spread out, which further reduced their productivity. Even now, as volumes increase and space becomes limited, and artificial labor shortage can occur from workers having to move the same cargo multiple times; drayed from the port, to a yard, to the rail or final destination.
Chassis Shortages
The decline in handling productivity eventually lead to chassis shortages as average dwell times went from three days during the start of summer up to seven days in October. In addition, some 4,000+ chassis are currently out-of-service in Sothern California and while service providers are working overtime to get any and all usable equipment moving, the incredible demand is still too much. With large volumes of imports expected to continue until manufacturing facilities shut down in China for the Lunar New Year, February 12th through February 26th, these chassis shortages are not being addressed quickly enough. Shippers are advised to not hold containers or chassis equipment as temporary storage.
Lunar New Year – February 12, 2021 – February 26, 2021
Carrying On
Trucking, however, seems to be facing the most pressure as the primary middleman between importers and ports. Truckers are calling on ocean carriers to help remedy the massive influx of cargo by asking them to share valid shipment information before arrival so that dual transactions can be properly scheduled. Currently, truckers have advised that only about 20 percent of visits to the port are arranged as an efficient dual transaction. Dual transactions would more efficiently distribute equipment for scheduling, reducing the need for dray yard style storage and double handling.
What other issues are you seeing at West Coast ports?
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