Interesting about the supply chain issue and how it has been politicized. Governor DeSantis wants ships to come to Florida from the west coast through the Panama Canal. Not to say our Governor doesn't understand business, I thought I would drop my 2 cents.
It seems many folks blame California for most of the issues here but I suspect it is more about something else than about driving diesel trucks in California. First it sounds like that companies both the manufacturers and those who purchased the goods started to do business again shipping the goods as I understand it, on more boats getting it here. Then those folks who unload, according to what I read there is a shortage of longshoremen to unload and even working 24/7 it will take time. Then we have storage issues. Seems you can't leave the containers in the offload area parking lots, well because they have other boats to unload. I was listening to the news and they say that all the storage/ distribution warehouses are full. Come to find out our over the road trucking industry is 80000 drives short and our rail system is antiquated, so moving stuff is hard.
This is where it get strange to me, Governor DeSantis wants to offload containers in Florida Ports and as it seems other than the ports in California there appears to be no backlog. That would be a great idea, except there is a cost. As I understand prior to the pandemic it cost about $3k to ship a container of goods from the country of manufacture. Now the price is $20k. What do you think is cheaper for the shipping company? Adding another 2 weeks worth of operating cost or sitting out there waiting to unload in California?
As an aside, I was in a mom and pop business the other day and there was a trucker in there. The conversation I overheard was part of the reason for the trucker shortage was/ is compensation. He said the trucking industry has been short over the road drivers for 30 years. Then him and the owner both agreed it was President Bidens fault for the current situation.
RECAP
1. Manufacturing Ramps up overseas making products people want in the United States.
2. Retailers Order said products
3. Americans Seem to be flush with money and they want these products
4. We are short staffed at California Ports where 40% of cargo enters
5. we are short storage because everything is full
6. we are short truckers and railway in antiquated, can't move stuff
7. it is President Bidens fault
8. Governor DeSantis has a fix for it.
Just in case you missed the one thing that confuses me. The nation's warehouses/ storage/ distribution buildings are full.
The supply chain is hitting yet another hurdle as warehouses, a crucial midway point, run out of space nationwide. The amount of space available has hit a record low and shipping delays add more stress.
www.nbcnews.com