Biggest U.S. Retailers Charter Private Cargo Ships to Sail Around Port Delays
Source: WSJ
Global supply-chain delays are so severe that some of the biggest U.S. retailers have resorted to an extremeand expensivetactic to try to stock shelves this holiday season: They are chartering their own cargo ships to import goods. Port delays, Covid-19 outbreaks and worker shortages have snarled the flow of products between Asia and North America, threatening the supplies of everything from holiday decorations and toys to appliances and furniture. It is taking roughly 80 days to transport goods across the Pacific, or twice as long as before the pandemic, retail and shipping executives said.
Walmart Inc., Home Depot Inc., Costco Wholesale Corp. and Target Corp. some of the biggest U.S. retailers by revenueare among the companies that are paying for their own chartered ships as part of wider plans to mitigate the disruptions, a costly and unattainable option for most companies. Some of the chains are passing along these added costs by raising prices for shoppers.
The chartered ships are smaller than those that companies like Maersk operate and move just a small slice of total imports, the executives said. Ships that can hold around 1,000 containers are on average nearly twice as expensive as the cost of moving cargo on a typical 20,000-container vessel, according to freight forwarders.
But the charters provide the big retailers with a way to work around bottlenecks at ports such as Los Angeles, by rerouting cargo to less congested docks such as Portland, Ore., Oakland, Calif., or the East Coast. It also could help retailers ensure that key products such as electronics and décor arrive for the holiday season... Meanwhile, delays at major U.S. ports continue to escalate. More than 60 boxships were waiting to pull into the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach recently, according to the Marine Exchange of Southern California, up from around 25 a month earlier. Backups are spreading to East Coast ports as well.
Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/biggest-u-s-retailers-charter-private-cargo-ships-to-sail-around-port-delays-11633858380
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VarryOn
(2,343 posts)Forty-foot containers from China to the US were costing $1200-1500 months ago. Today, shippers are paying $7000-15000...and they are getting worse service. This problem is real.
I advise customers today to reach the US via Canada. They don't have the volume and union issues we do.
I'm able to save my customers about 10 days via Canada versus LA/Long Beach. A rare time, for sure.
question everything
(47,474 posts)Are there any problems there?
VarryOn
(2,343 posts)We need more drivers. This will only grow as an issue.
Chassis are a huge problem, too.
Shippers are trying to get the Surface Transportation Board engaged in the issue. Thankfully, the chairman is Democrat.
A lack of employees in warehouses is real.
hamsterjill
(15,220 posts)I want to know from someone with some insight please.
VarryOn
(2,343 posts)There are multiple reasons why, but the main one is they dont have enough people.
A new rail terminal opened last week in NC. Takes only fifteen people to operate. Its high tech. We need more.
orleans
(34,051 posts)because there aren't enuf people to unload the cargo?
VarryOn
(2,343 posts)And at the rail intermodal terminals. Railroads continue to reduce hours for picking up loads.
RussBLib
(9,006 posts)military has lots of trucks too
wackadoo wabbit
(1,166 posts)To your knowledge, is this true?
VarryOn
(2,343 posts)But, they are wisely trying for high wages.
wackadoo wabbit
(1,166 posts)It's hard and can be dangerous work. They should be paid commensurate with the work's difficulty and danger.
roamer65
(36,745 posts)Thats bad.
Fullduplexxx
(7,860 posts)Maybe we can just use child labor
Mr. Evil
(2,841 posts)VarryOn
(2,343 posts)They've put lot of of food on my table. I love them!
The US supply chain is in a lot of need. We need a lot of railroad help and a lot of truck drivers. Order your Xmas gifts today! Things are moving slow.
cstanleytech
(26,286 posts)claimed why has the labor shortage not improved?
TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)really sucks for a lot of people.
I have no idea what's going on on tbe docks. I knew a lot of dockworkers and they all made ridiculous money. One guy put in so much overtime one year he forgot where his house was.
cstanleytech
(26,286 posts)Walmart, Amazon and a alot of retailers in general are trying to hire people supposedly but they still claim that they are having problems.
About the only thing I can think of off hand for retail and the service industry like McDonalds having problems is the reputation they worked for so long to earn over the past 4 decades as really shitty companies to work for that are dead end and that do not allow a person to actually live on (let alone raise a family on) without getting a 2nd job.
TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)paying around that that now. But the help wanted signs are still up.
Local restaurants used to depend on students to work the summers, and closed for most or all of the winter, but those kids are no where to be found any more. This area is becoming gentrified, and the kids have no interest in working. Farms are shutting down because the farmers' kids and grandkids would rather work on Wall St. than the farm.
A lot of things are changing, and, truth is, there were times when I collected unemployment and had no interest in going to work for a shit job. There was also a lot of work off the books, too. Probably still is.
NickB79
(19,233 posts)We're short over 2 million people, no matter how much we pay.
We need to open the border. A lot of immigrants would LOVE to work in the sectors hardest hit by the labor shortage.
Marthe48
(16,945 posts)Cursed or blessed :/
bucolic_frolic
(43,143 posts)Irish_Dem
(46,981 posts)A few years without plastic shit from China, much of which ends up in land fills or the Sea, would be wonderful.
The fossil fuel industry is pouring millions into advertising, lobbying (read bribes), and campaign financing with an eye on expanding markets.
Plastic is Oil and Natural Gas. Just another horror show for our home planet and growing Climate Catastrophe.