Shipping Delays Summer 2021

[PedalUma]

What used to take nine-days is taking 29-days. What are you experiences and contributions for this discussion?
I have a bike coming in for a new controller today and tracking has just said pending for 25-days.

https://theloadstar.com/major-shipping-delays-tie-up-millions-in-our-cashflow-say-hong-kong-bcos/

 

[rawlus]

shortage of shipping containers, truck drivers, dock workers, delivery drivers, manufacturing capacity, etc. alongside surging demand…. record setting delays seems the norm now. even amazon i used to get same day prime deliveries and now prime only delivers in their 2-day window 1/3 of the time. i don’t like it, nothing i can do about it, and it’s a very first world problem affecting those who can afford to “buy stuff” that’s nonessential. i’m part of that problem too.

 

[Taylor57]

I ordered a blow up air mattress last week for a buddy that has a place at the beach. I just clicked on buy now and being an Amazon veteran, assumed it would show up in a few days. Yesterday I asked my pal if the mattress had shown up and it hadn't. I went to my Amazon Returns and Orders section and clicked opened the page. There it was, the air mattress with a delivery date of December 17th. Wow, needless to say I cancelled and found another mattress that's supposed to be there tomorrow...

 

[PedalUma]

I am mom and pop or smaller in helping local people with eBikes that LBS' won't touch. I found this section below of an article selling financing. It describes the crux of my problem. I have to pay upfront and do not see anything back until a part gets put on a bike. I will bet @Taylor57 had to pay up front for an air mattress that wouldn't arrive for almost 6-months.

"For buyers that buy on FOB basis, (or “Free on Board,” a shipping term indicating that the buyer takes ownership of the goods once the supplier ships the product) longer shipping times mean a longer period holding inventory, known as Days Inventory Outstanding (DIO)."

"DIO is an important component of the cash conversion cycle, a metric that conveys how many days it takes for a company to convert its investments in inventory and other resources into cash flows from sales. It’s a measure of how efficiently a business is using its working capital."

 

[Taylor57]

I am mom and pop or smaller in helping local people with eBikes that LBS' won't touch. I found this section below of an article selling financing. It describes the crux of my problem. I have to pay upfront and do not see anything back until a part gets put on a bike. I will bet @Taylor57 had to pay up front for an air mattress that wouldn't arrive for almost 6-months.

"For buyers that buy on FOB basis, (or “Free on Board,” a shipping term indicating that the buyer takes ownership of the goods once the supplier ships the product) longer shipping times mean a longer period holding inventory, known as Days Inventory Outstanding (DIO)."

"DIO is an important component of the cash conversion cycle, a metric that conveys how many days it takes for a company to convert its investments in inventory and other resources into cash flows from sales. It’s a measure of how efficiently a business is using its working capital."

Yeah, I did but was credited back yesterday when I cancelled. I have had 100% positive experiences with Amazon...

 

[RunForTheHills]

Amazon doesn't charge my card until the item ships. They will authorize the amount in advance though. On eBay you have to pay upfront. I have Amazon Prime and rarely get stuff in two days anymore and never the next day. It definitely has gone downhill.

 

[PedalUma]

Amazon must have some predictive code on me. Some items that I like from their site are arriving the next day! It makes it almost too easy not to shop around and spread the love. I can order a seven-speed freewheel cluster that I have ordered 12-times before at 4PM and it is at my workshop at 10:30 in the morning. It is easier that going two-miles each way to my favorite local bike shop. This one is 11-34 Teeth and requires a long cage derailleur. I met a guy on a bike path yesterday and upgraded his bike with one of these today, making the top-end almost 20% faster than his old 14-28. Amazon must have a bin with my name on it at the local Whole Foods. It is stuff like getting a controller that is taking forever. I do not even have tracking on a controller I ordered from on of my best suppliers on July First.

 

[Alaskan]

From our hilltop home in Bellingham, Washington we have a great view of Bellingham Bay, 70 nautical miles north of Seattle. For the past three months we have had container ships lying at anchor in the bay, waiting their turn to head down to Seattle and unload, with intermittent reports of covid aboard. The same two ships have been out there for the past few weeks, generators humming, irritating a town full of amazon shoppers griping about the noise. There are several other federally designated ship anchorages between here and Seattle, all of which are full of container ships, waiting their turn to unload and head back to Asia.

Bellingham has been our home port for 5 decades. Before this year their have probably been two boat anchored here, for a day or three, waiting to get into the Port of Seattle. This year we have had perhaps 5 days all summer without at least one ship at anchor.

This stuff is not theoretical or a fabricated excuse...it is real. Here is the view from our deck right now.

 

[mschwett]

From our hilltop home in Bellingham, Washington we have a great view of Bellingham Bay, 70 nautical miles north of Seattle. For the past three months we have had container ships lying at anchor in the bay, waiting their turn to head down to Seattle and unload, with intermittent reports of covid aboard. The same two ships have been out there for the past few weeks, generators humming, irritating a town full of amazon shoppers griping about the noise. There are several other federally designated ship anchorages between here and Seattle, all of which are full of container ships, waiting their turn to unload and head back to Asia.

Bellingham has been our home port for 5 decades. Before this year their have probably been two boat anchored here, for a day or three, waiting to get into the Port of Seattle. This year we have had perhaps 5 days all summer without at least one ship at anchor.

This stuff is not theoretical or a fabricated excuse...it is real. Here is the view from our deck right now.

the san francisco bay is a container ship parking lot as often as not these days. no photoshop:

i'm sure long beach looks the same. hundreds (thousands?) of containers on every one of these ships, filled with hundreds of smaller boxes, literally millions of items just sitting on the water, delayed by hours, days, weeks, months... it's a logistical nightmare around the world. it's mind boggling when you think of how many parts there are inside each modern thing you buy.

 

[PedalUma]

the san francisco bay is a container ship parking lot as often as not these days. no photoshop:

View attachment 99625

i'm sure long beach looks the same. hundreds (thousands?) of containers on every one of these ships, filled with hundreds of smaller boxes, literally millions of items just sitting on the water, delayed by hours, days, weeks, months... it's a logistical nightmare around the world. it's mind boggling when you think of how many parts there are inside each modern thing you buy.

That is an impressive picture of the cost of floating your inventory. Imagine being a retailer who owns that stuff but cannot sell it.

 

[ExPatBrit]

I was visiting family in Newport Beach last month, heavily loaded container ships all along the horizon waiting to offload at Long Beach