Although the Port of New York and New Jersey skillfully handled the 20 percent national increase in import containers last year, delays are starting to take hold. A reported 14 cargo vessels are experiencing extended wait times on a daily basis as containers pile up on docks.
Ranked as the third-largest in the U.S., the port averted the unprecedented bottlenecks that continue to plague Long Beach and Los Angeles. During the height of the supply chain crisis, upwards of 110 vessels were seen idling off the coast. Officials maintain a threat of container delay fines to keep cargo moving. They also require ships to idle out of eyesight these days.
The growing bottleneck on the East Coast port appears to be due to a perfect storm. Asian exporters began re-routing ships away from California, increasing already record volume. The once double-digit import spike at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach has tamped down to a modest 2.7 percent through March. Picking up the slack, New York and New Jersey experienced 12-percent growth during the same period.
A persistent truck driver shortage and some small freight outfits sidelined due to record-high diesel prices have dealt major ports a tough hand. That’s why Rick Cotton, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, has reportedly been contacting key stakeholders in trucking, warehousing, and ocean carriers to make a coordinated effort to stem the tide of container congestion.
“It’s all hands on deck to try to pull every lever that’s available,” Cotton reportedly said.
Recently appointed port director Bethann Rooney went on the record indicating that upwards of 120,000 empty containers are clogging the yards. That number is estimated at more than twice the amount of empties the facility typically houses.
“We’ve got a problem in New York, New Jersey with empties, and I need them to solve it proactively because we don’t want the White House…coming knocking on our door,” Rooney reportedly said.
Rooney plans to open another 10 acres of land to handle the excessive congestion. But port officials across the country are already bracing for a tsunami of containers reaching U.S. shores as the summer peak shipping season nears and the Shanghai lockdowns wane.
Trucking outfits such as H & M Intermodal Services out of Kearny, N.J., indicate the port bottlenecks are exacerbating their ability to move containers efficiently. Thomas Villacampa, regional vice president at the trucking firm, explained that more than 200 of his 400 container-hauling equipment are holding empties that need to be returned to port. That situation prevents his operation from effectively transporting goods and materials to warehouses and final destinations.
Source: wsj.com
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Not much incentive to want to drive in New York or New Jersey, excessive inflation, crime, traffic, just are a few incentives
That is what I was thinking. They have a great work Ethic the best I have seen at least from a flatbed point of view but to hell with that traffic and then if you go south on 95 you will have traffic all the way to Richmond Va
NY & NJ are often advertised in truck driver job posts as a bonus that the driver doesn’t have to go, so even without a driver shortage we don’t want to go to those parts of the country…..
I would buy a lawnmower and a leaf blower and mow lawns before I would haul containers as an o/o.
NY and NJ. The armpits of the east coast
Nobody in their right mind would want drive to and from those ports.
Port Newark had multiple ships dock last weekend. For the entire week the NJTP was jammed up with mostly old underpowered tractors pulling containers. Some of these rigs struggle to do 50 MPH on a 65 MPH road. It’s dangerous.
They and all ports could solve their problems simply by respecting the drivers time that are currently servicing them. When you sit for 5-30 hours unpaid while they screw around and slack off they tend to have fewer drivers willing to haul for them. This goes for all shippers/receivers. They create their own shortages and can’t hire their way out of being douchebags.
Never going to happen. The ports (and all trucking companies) have been screwing drivers forever and will never stop. They know that there are plenty of dummies who will haul containers specifically or drive truck. Sadly to say, truckers are about the most unsophisticated and dumb group of employees to be found anywhere.
If they knew how much power they have they would be even more scared than they are now, but that will never happen either.
Make sure your kids go to college or learn a real skill.
Please before you publish an article like this do your own research. The port has a driver problem because they expect truckers to carry extra insurance. Have uiia sealink and rfid. Sometimes they expect y or to be bonded. All of this costs 4-8000 a year for truck but they expect their freight to move at the same rate as freight coming from outside the port that does not have this cost. This is why they cannot get trucks. There are plenty of trucks that run ny nj and pa. But they won’t go to the port because it doesn’t make sense to do so. In short if the port was willing to pay what they should to move their freight they wouldn’t have such a hard time moving it.
Please before you publish an article like this do your own research. The port has a driver problem because they expect truckers to carry extra insurance. Have uiia sealink and rfid. Sometimes they expect you to be bonded. All of this costs 4-8000 a year for a truck but they expect their freight to move at the same rate as freight coming from outside the port that does not have this cost. This is why they cannot get trucks. There are plenty of trucks that run ny nj and pa. But they won’t go to the port because it doesn’t make sense to do so. In short if the port was willing to pay what they should to move their freight they wouldn’t have such a hard time moving it.
no body goes up there ,too many a holes ,traffic ,no parking and 5 bucks a mile 6 bucks a gallon and which bridge or where to go f that let some dumba get it and rock n roll it ,i wont do it ,no matter what it pays