News / Fallout from hurricanes a greater concern than strikes, say forwarders

© James Vallee |

Forwarders are growing increasingly concerned over the wave of storms battering the southern US states, as fears of long-lasting fallout from last week’s port strike recede.

Dockers agreed to suspend the strike for new negotiations, but the three-day action on the east and Gulf coasts led to concern that supply chains could experience major delays.

However, it appears that the fallout from the strike has been negligible – in part thanks to supply chain operators thinking ahead and front-loading goods in and out of the ports.

Jackson Campos corporate director at Brazil-based forwarder AGL Cargo, told The Loadstar: “Our average delay has been a week, but we’ve seen shorter too.

“We front-loaded and sought to get goods into the US ahead of schedule, but we also had goods on the water as the strike was unfolding and have seen some of our goods get in as planned.”

But Mr Campos expressed more concern over the impact of the current hurricane season. When Hurricane Helene made landfall across Florida and Georgia in late September, there were port closures and delays at airports.

Today, Hurricane Milton – said to be the one of the most powerful for almost a century – is moving into the Atlantic, leaving behind floods, storm surges and violent winds across the ‘Sunshine State’.

More than three million homes and businesses are without power and a number of deaths have been reported. Ports including Jacksonville remain closed.

“As things stand, airports like Miami have remained open but we have been warned by carriers to expect delays,” Mr Campos continued.

“Atlanta was hit by last month’s hurricane but where possible we have been attempting to divert volumes destined for Miami that way, but we are certainly more concerned by these climactic events than we have been by the strikes.”

Airports closed on Tuesday ahead of the storm and responders are now attempting to open major highways and arteries; at the height of the storm, with winds of up to 150mph spawning a number of tornadoes, it was considered too dangerous for emergency services to respond to callouts.