Congestion Causes West Coast Cargo Headaches Congestion issues on the US West Coast continue to plague importers and exporters whose shipments are delayed into and out of the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Seattle, and Tacoma. Recently, the congestion has reached new levels causing traffic gridlock, extended wait times for ships waiting to berth, occasional intermodal interruptions, and some gate closures due to labor shortages. In addition to a scarcity of truck drivers, chassis shortages, and high seasonal cargo volumes, some industry sources claim that International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) workers are causing slow downs contributing to the bottleneck. Shippers, and those organizations representing them, have begun to pressure the government to appoint a federal mediator. The ILWU contract expired on July 1, but until recently port operations were uninterrupted while the ILWU and management continued negotiations. Many shippers have attempted to avoid the potential of West Coast labor disruptions by shipping through Canadian or East Coast ports. In some cases, re-routings have led to back-ups in these ports too. The ports of New York-New Jersey suffer from chassis shortages and congestion, and the port of Vancouver recently experienced bottlenecks that precipitated the railway to prioritize regular shippers over those previously using US ports
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 20:25:39 +0000
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