Friday Five
Congestion rises on multiple fronts due to black swans and systemic issues, while there finally seems to be some good news coming out of Long Beach and Los Angeles. Also, the Ever Given is back! Let’s get started.
Working conditions true cause of supply chain crisis [New York Times]
Guy Platten, secretary general for the International Chamber of Shipping, highlights labor conditions as the true cause of the current state of the supply chain in this opinion piece for the New York Times. According to Platten, Biden could go further than his measures to make Long Beach and Los Angeles operational 24/7, in particular in aligning vaccination policies across cities and countries.
"Storm of the century" cuts off Canada's biggest port [Financial Post]
Extreme weather has paralyzed the Port of Vancouver as flooding cut off rail services and road access to the port. “The impacts have been significantly greater than expected,” said Mike Farnworth, the deputy premier of British Columbia. With severe infrastructure damage and congestion looming, the timing could not be worse.
Air cargo congestion on the rise [The Loadstar]
With demand for air freight strong, congestion is happening on the ground all over the world, with the past week seeing a 5.5% fall in global capacity. Scheduling issues and labor shortages are noted as the main causes in this piece by Alex Lennane highlighting multiple perspectives for The Loadstar.
Los Angeles and Long Beach ports postpone container dwell fees [Logistics Management]
One of the measures planned to decrease backlogs on the West Coast is surcharges for containers dwelling in the terminals for longer than three days or nine days depending on whether they are scheduled to move by rail or truck, respectively, increasing in increments per container per day. Good news for many: This plan has been delayed by one week, as the situation is said to be improving.
Ever Given back on track [Splash247]
While the state of the global supply chain is still dire, one story seems to have been given a happy ending: the Ever Given. After undergoing repairs in Qingdao, China for six weeks, the vessel is now fully repaired and fully operational, picking up boxes from China which are currently on their way to Europe. Meanwhile, the legal fallout from the situation continues.
Thanks for stopping by! In case you missed it, be sure to check out last week’s logistics news roundup highlighting the supply chain perspective of the COP26 conference. Also, if you need a better way to navigate peak season, ask us about our award-winning Logistics Orchestration® platform.
