US media reported on the 25th that the number of container ships congested at the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach in the United States reached a record 62.
The New York Post reported that this is the result of the superposition of factors such as the increase in the number of freighters, the shortage of labor, and the slowing down of port work efficiency in the new crown epidemic prevention measures.
The data provided by the report shows that one-third of the US imports every year through the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach.
Bloomberg News Agency reported that cargo ships are also piled up in other US ports. Now, it takes longer to move a container from a cargo ship to a truck or car. The shortage of truck drivers has exacerbated the problem.
The British "Daily Mail" reported that more than 600,000 parcels were diverted every day by FedEx in the United States to cope with labor shortages. FedEx Chief Operating Officer Reggie Subramaniam said this week that the lack of staff has caused the company to operate "widely inefficient".
Subramaniam said that important ports such as Portland, Oregon are using 65% of the staff to "handle normal freight volumes." The Fox Business News website reported that these ports had to reroute about 25% of parcels.
Subramaniam said that the diversion of parcels has aggravated the company's inefficient operations and pushed up operating costs.
FedEx Chief Financial Officer Mike Lenz said that these issues are likely to run through the rest of the year.
The labor shortage not only slows down the logistics speed, but also affects the supply of stores across the United States.
"Daily Mail" reported that stores are also facing the pressure of supply chain chaos, labor shortage, inflation and Christmas approaching, and there may be a shortage of goods such as electrical appliances, sports shoes, cars, and toilet paper.
Open Marketer said on the 23rd that it would restart the purchase limit of toilet paper, absorbent paper and bottled water.
The shortage of containers also plagued American manufacturers. Nike said it was difficult to find enough containers to transport goods back from overseas. According to data provided by the Daily Mail, the price of freight containers has risen from less than US$2,000 two years ago to US$25,000 this year.
Affected by factors such as labor and container shortages, port congestion and other factors, Nike has doubled the time it takes to ship goods from Asian factories to the United States.
