New call for White House intervention as USWC port disruption continues
Disruption has continued at the US west coast ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, ...
When things go wrong in complex supply chains, where there are multitudinous independent links, problems have a habit of escalating in terms of a magnitude and intractability. Should you ever need evidence of this, simply point to what is happening at the giant US west coast container port complex of Los Angeles-Long Beach. Congestion began to rear its head in late spring, as higher-than-normal import demand appeared to be fuelled by nervous retailers hoping to avoid a repeat of the traumatic ILWU shutdown in 2002. Despite the continuing failure of unions and employers to finalise a new master contract, the current problems are a confluence of factors. “What is happening is on par with the most severe disruption the ports have seen in the past 20 years, including the 10-day 2002 lockout of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union”, writes Journal of Commerce chief content officer Peter Tirschwell.
Container freight rates: 'collapse' is the word, says Xeneta
Worker no-shows force US west coast port terminal shutdowns
Cargo shifts back to US west coast ports, but some has gone for good
'Alarming signals' as airfreight capacity rises and rates fall
Digital forwarders back in the spotlight: can they compete?
Major box lines still fighting over diminishing supply of smaller ships
Comment on this article