Figured this article fit nicely in this thread.
Edit: Give CNN credit though for this beauty: “Before Times”
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This is all quite off. I own an international freight forwarding company and deal with this directly, daily.
But, this thread does illustrate how post Trump, the world is riddled with conspiracy theories while ignoring real world, simple explanations. The simple explanation is Covid. Right as Covid his last year, manufacturers stocked up. Then, during Covid they cut their labor staff and workers were displaced. During the summer of 2020, imports surged when the flood gates were finally opened after the initial shutdowns. People were at home purchasing at Amazon and the like as well. This conflated the issue.
The entire supply chain was disrupted. Raw materials require consistency and that consistency was dismantled during covid.
Then, there is the shortage of shipping containers. Typically, containers ran for about $2k a piece. Today, they are going for upwards of $10-15k, each due to limited availability. Many of the containers that shipped out in 2020 are sitting in places that are not cost beneficial to return without goods in them. The world stopped shipping for the most part, and put everything into Covid vaccines and PPE equipment. Having 30 containers empty in Africa means they just sit there until they’re full and they are not being filled. This shift and leave ended up removing overwhelming amounts of containers from circulation. To make matters worse, the Suez Canal debacle stranded 350,000 containers during that time. That’s not even discussing the chassis issue, where there is a huge shortage all of the sudden. With the shipping lines getting out of the drayage business, they pulled their chassis. That’s where they were predominantly from, cutting supply and putting rental rates to the moon.
Rates - Due to lack of space and containers, shipping rates skyrocketed and spots available dwindled. Shipping lines began refusing final mile and are eliminating the time the customers typically have for drayage, removing their freight from the containers. Many shipping lines are requiring a live unload to return the container immediately. As you can imagine, most can’t do that. So, you have a stalemate which further breaks the shipping line schedules and container availabilities. In the end, the customer usually wins and holds it in their time, alerting the shipping line its available. However, the lack of available truckers compounds this issue. Right now, there is 1 truck driver for every 9 job postings. Quite a bit is involved in that issue, and it predates Covid. But, with the increased prices of the trucks themselves, lower margins of the carriers, and just the belief that truck driving is a crappy job (57% of drivers are over 45 and 23% over 55), there are less and less opportunities for that freight to get recovered from the shipping line and the final mile completed in a timely manner. Also, they can’t sit in LAX for 2 weeks waiting on a load to get ready. They are working 1-3 jobs in the future every day, working on backhauls and the like. The industry is fighting to get more women in it to salvage the issues. Women make up 47% of the workforce, but only 6% of trucking.
To add to it, there is so little warehousing space in the US right now. Of course, you can get space in bumf*ck nowhere, but that’s not advantageous for most. They need their freight in a location from which they can easily distribute, like DFW, ATL, LAX, ORD, etc.
Then you have the environment to contend with. LAX is already up 27% from last year at the port. Port congestion and shutdown is just the icing on the cake. It’s not just here, it’s everywhere. But, with the hurricane closures of MSY, BTR, Gramery and Morgan City, Port Pascagoula, MS – there are a less spots to unload, pushing everyone into the same ports at the same time. Plus, the port infrastructures were already failing before Covid and now we have mega-container ships like Ever Given carrying over 20,000 TEUs.
Here’s a visualization in real time to show you what’s going on.
With each issue, it affects the next one. I didn’t even talk about customs clearance and how that’s slowed down to a crawl.
In the end, there are simple explanations. It’s not always a nefarious plot from a James Bond movie and everyone’s playing global chess. This has literally nothing to do with any of that. It’s been building for years. The curious part is how you asked why Biden is allowing this. I’ve noticed lately that you’ve shown quite a bit of favor for government intervention and that the government somehow has a right to overtake private industries (i.e. you wanting to take over the news before the election). This is a market problem. I thought you believed in free markets, but now you think Biden should….what, take over the transportation industry along with the pharmaceutical industry (your insulin debate the other day)? Your authoritarian panties are showing.
Lol…Remember when he threw a tantrum and left for good?
Did your cunt boyfriend take your fingers out of his little commie cunt and allow you to type again.
Good details, Warden. I’ve been reading up on all these issues and there’s a very complex interplay going on. Time is one obvious solution, but there has to be strong action we could take to start alleviating these problems. Getting more truckers working, for example.
As usual @Warden84 overplays his hand.
I dont disagree with anything you said. But why erect a straw man?
The point of the post is “why is Biden ignoring the problem?” And additionally “why doesn’t he use his Federal powers to mitigate it?”
So thank you for the synopsis…. But not sure what you’re calling “off” while tagging me.
Remember that soliloquy he gave when he dramatically left the board…
Attention hungry, little meltdown type whore…That’s all he is.
And the simple explanation to counter that is…We shouldn’t have given covid mitigation priority over every other aspect of life in the world…And this is before we even get into the fact of how little the mitigation worked
So now you have problems like this
He did, fuckstick
…says the guy who’s been in a constant meltdown since early 2020. You’re adorable Boomhauer
The article is from today. My point was valid until this article saved you.
Good that he’s taking some action. FINALLY
Saved me? You’re a total idiot. You dicklicks claim you want free markets and are always calling people communists, but at the first opportunity, you’re all in on government intervention and even government taking over entire industries (i.e. GSC wanting to take over the media, you all claiming the govt should intervene over insulin prices, etc.). Fucking idiots blaming Biden over shit happening all over the world that predated him, then ignoring the market realities that caused it.
As always, you show you have no real convictions. Just pricks for the sake of being pricks
You wanna take over another industry, communist? Such a hypocritical douchebag
You’re no doubt a Jersey salesman. I can smell the pine-sol cologne and gold chain from Texas
Nope- this is an overstatement.
We want free markets BUT government(s) created this problem with their ridiculous overreaction ordering lockdowns.
It is now their responsibility to correct it.
The media is already a CIA operation. I was calling for Trump to intercede to eventually free them to be free companies again.
Nope just correct them from government black ops
After he let it get way out of hand. He basically admitted he’s F’d up. It’s too late. The damage is done.
How you can defend a dementia patient who has crowds cheering F Joe Biden like we’ve never seen before is amazing.
I know you come on here to get your entertainment, but you really weaken your arguments when you defend the F ups of Joe B at all costs.
Again, you’ve displayed that you’re a total and complete idiot.
It began long before Biden and Biden didn’t admit he fucked up, had no part in it, and can make only the smallest of impacts. As I’ve explained the issues of the supply chain, you’ve again shown your inability to understand at even an elementary level. But, it does show once again that you conservatives truly do see things in only authoritarian glasses. You are the absolute FIRST people to want government intervention and the FIRST people to want government to take control of private industries.
It’s quite clear what you lack in integrity, you also lack in intelligence.
He absolutely could have done something sooner but he was worried about pushing vaccine mandates. Complete loser.
You back the Let’s go Brandon guy. That’s cute that you support this doddering old man.
I’m starting to believe @Warden84 is bipolar.
He reminds me of Monica Gallagher in Shameless. He comes in all emotional and loud and the next thing you know, you can’t find him. He’s left. Nope, he’s just in the closet working off the shakes from a bad manic episode.
Let’s Go Brandon
Pete on paternity leave with a transportation crisis. 