US port capacity and kicking the strike can down the road
Gauging the ripple effect
US west coast ports are losing business to other gateways because of opposition from workers to productivity improvements, according to some observers.
However, labour unions believe intermodal connectivity, rather than port productivity, should be the focus for change.
Lately the Wall Street Journal has been the stage for a debate on west coast port productivity, with an opening salvo from Peter Tirschwell, VP maritime and trade at IHS Markit and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Commerce.
He argues that US ports have been ...
Comment on this article
Gary Ferrulli
June 18, 2021 at 3:09 pmReality, lots of blame for the congestion in the US, several bottlenecks at inland points, including cargo interest warehouses as well a rail intermodal ramps. But first bottleneck on imports is at the ports and terminals on the US West Coast where productivity lags well behind the top 15 major ports in the world while compensation is the highest in the world. It goes downhill from there.