Port Issues Causing Logistical ‘Disaster’ for Exporters & Importers.
Nationally and globally, ports are struggling to handle the complex logistics of supply chains affected by the public health pandemic that has stretched throughout the past year, especially the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports in California. A number of troubling issues that have persisted for months, are slowing exports and imports, which as stated by industry experts, include the following: a shortage in skilled labor due to COVID-19 outbreaks; a severe lack of empty containers, equipment and storage space; steep increases in container fees; and a steady accrual in detention and demurrage fees.
While backups at the California ports are slowing imports to unprecedented levels, the delays are also having trickle-down effects on exports. Ocean carriers are increasingly running out of capacity and containers to carry shipments for U.S. exporters, leading to declined bookings and millions of dollars in stranded exports, industry representatives said. “The system just does not work in the way it’s supposed to work anymore. It’s not just the increased costs—it’s delays, it’s uncertainty,” said David Monroe, a transportation lawyer who represents the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America. “You can’t count on anything.”