Why Container Ships Can’t Sail Around the California Ports Bottleneck

[tomjasz]

Getting worse.


Newly arriving vessels are adding to a record-breaking flotilla waiting to unload cargo that on Sunday reached 73 ships, according to the Marine Exchange of Southern California, nearly double the number a month ago and expanding a fleet that has become a stark sign of the disruptions and delays roiling global supply chains.

Before the pandemic, it was unusual for more than one ship to wait for a berth.

 

[JRA]

A few years ago the port of Portland, OR stopped all container ship activity. I can't imagine that if they hadn't at least some of these delays might have been prevented. They still do a very active amount of bulk and tanker traffic.

 

[AHicks]

A few years ago the port of Portland, OR stopped all container ship activity. I can't imagine that if they hadn't at least some of these delays might have been prevented. They still do a very active amount of bulk and tanker traffic.

I know absolutely nothing about it, but to me, that makes no sense at all. Is there no money to be made loading/unloading these boats? That would be really hard to believe. So is there another reason Portland would turn their back on them?

 

[Dallant]

Saw a story on the LA port and they were saying a big reason for the backup is that there are 16 loads for every available truck. Way too much to move and not nearly enough trucks/drivers to move it.

 

[Gionnirocket]

Sounds like a good opportunity for someone with a cargo ebike

 

[AHicks]

Yessir! Just back that sucker up and we'll give you a load......

 

[rich c]

I know absolutely nothing about it, but to me, that makes no sense at all. Is there no money to be made loading/unloading these boats? That would be really hard to believe. So is there another reason Portland would turn their back on them?

It's not a matter of just unloading. The ports around LA are stuffed to the gills with full containers already. They have very little storage left on land and only a fraction of the trucks to move them to even stack more. A severe shortage of truck drivers to put them on the road across America. World News said this Christmas is already going to be a bust since it won't get on shelves in time and next Christmas will also be in jeopardy. Port of LA unloads about 490,000 containers a month, 3.8 million containers in the calendar year 2021. https://www.portoflosangeles.org/bu...ner-statistics/historical-teu-statistics-2021
An average container load on the ship is 21,000. That means there is just over 3 months of containers sitting on the sea.

 

[mclewis1]

For some there can be ways around some of the backlogs at the big ports ... Rad Power using an alternative ship and port -

How e-bike brand Rad Power shortened its supply chain by more than 50 days

EVERETT, Wash. (BRAIN) — Like all bike companies, Rad Power has struggled to deliver enough bikes to meet demand for the last year and a half. But the Seattle-based consumer-direct powerhouse recently trimmed weeks off the transit time for its e-bikes by using an alternative seaport.

www.bicycleretailer.com

 

[Nwtravler]

I know absolutely nothing about it, but to me, that makes no sense at all. Is there no money to be made loading/unloading these boats? That would be really hard to believe. So is there another reason Portland would turn their back on them?

It was about the long shoreman union sabotaging work, creating slow downs, and causing headaches for the shippers. There was a ton of money to be made, the unions drove the shipping companies to other ports and Portland continued down the sewer. BTW I have lived here for 24 adult years so I know how bad it has gotten.

 

[Dallant]

It was about the long shoreman union sabotaging work, creating slow downs, and causing headaches for the shippers. There was a ton of money to be made, the unions drove the shipping companies to other ports and Portland continued down the sewer. BTW I have lived here for 24 adult years so I know how bad it has gotten.

Sure, let’s blame the unions, since sabotaging the port would screw their livelihood too.

 

[Nwtravler]

Sure, let’s blame the unions, since sabotaging the port would screw their livelihood too.

Yep they did screw themselves, I don't blame the shipping companies for pulling out. Portland became a port you couldn't trust not to have your cargo held hostage.

 

[Merle Nelson]

Sure, let’s blame the unions, since sabotaging the port would screw their livelihood too.

Seems hard to believe doesn't it? My brother in law maintained the light electrical equipment and refrigerator sized computers in a clean/cool room for our local paper - now owned by the NYTimes. He told stories of the purposeful sabotage of equip that would boggle your mind. Union fear of loosing work to x.

 

[ActionJackson]

Getting worse.


Newly arriving vessels are adding to a record-breaking flotilla waiting to unload cargo that on Sunday reached 73 ships, according to the Marine Exchange of Southern California, nearly double the number a month ago and expanding a fleet that has become a stark sign of the disruptions and delays roiling global supply chains.

Before the pandemic, it was unusual for more than one ship to wait for a berth.

Amazing. Most likely that 3/4ths of that cargo is holiday consumer junk destined for the landfill by mid-summer next year. This is a good development - maybe someone somewheres will realize they don’t need so much garbage.

 

[ElevenAD]

This is not the worst time to be a truck driver but it appears no one wants the job, the company i work for have been short on drivers for the past year.

 

[Art Deco]

Amazing. Most likely that 3/4ths of that cargo is holiday consumer junk destined for the landfill by mid-summer next year. This is a good development - maybe someone somewheres will realize they don’t need so much garbage.

This exactly ... how much of the cheap Chinese made junk (Harbor Freight, Wal-Mart, etc.) you ever bought was even in use a decade later? I have some USA made stuff I bought thirty years ago from Wal-Mart that is still in use today.

 

[AHicks]

This is not the worst time to be a truck driver but it appears no one wants the job, the company i work for have been short on drivers for the past year.

I struggle with that as well. I get how the long haul guys are a special breed and the reluctance to take on a job like that, but a local driver? What the heck? Aren't they paying these guys anything? What is the issue?

 

[Art Deco]

I struggle with that as well. I get how the long haul guys are a special breed and the reluctance to take on a job like that, but a local driver? What the heck? Aren't they paying these guys anything? What is the issue?

I think young people are turned off by truck driving today for many reasons ... horrible traffic, overly difficult exams, insane productivity requirements (hundreds of stops per day?), etc.

But they also know that driving is a dead end job. The companies are pushing hard for self driving trucks, and that will happen RSN (Real Soon Now). Safe or not.

 

[ActionJackson]

I think young people are turned off by truck driving today for many reasons ...

I think most young people in America are turned off by any form of labor these days

 

[AHicks]

Though some really have their nose to the grindstone trying to make it, clearly there are those with a huge sense of entitlement that refuse to leave home or even get off the couch....

 

[Art Deco]

Though some really have their nose to the grindstone trying to make it, clearly there are those with a huge sense of entitlement that refuse to leave home or even get off the couch....

I can't say from experience since the only young people I have much contact with were all eager beavers at the local highly competitive university, but "entitlement" just seems like a synonym for "lazy" in today's media.