More problems for drayage operations...

Discussion in 'Intermodal Trucking Forum' started by REO6205, May 26, 2022.

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  2. Chinatown

    Chinatown Road Train Member

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    Automated/Robotic ports will solve the problem, because that puts the Longshoreman Union out of the equation.
     
  3. Lexuslane

    Lexuslane Medium Load Member

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    Lol
    I bet most ports can’t even tell you which containers are in their port at any given time.
    Mush less keep up with how long it’s been there and who brought it there .
    Most are still run like it’s 1951
     
  4. tscottme

    tscottme Road Train Member

    The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) contract for the US West Coast is ending soon. There may be an ILWU strike to add to the supply-chain and port congestion problems. ILWU has been saying they intend to keep working according to the old contract, even after it ends, so as not to compound problems, but we'll see. The ILWU has shown itself to be militant in the past.

    Anyone wanting to keep abreast of marine terminal issues should checkout YouTube channel of Sal Mercogliano. I discovered him back when the huge fuster cluck at LA and Longbeach ports were in the news. He is one of the experts in that industry. He has experience on ships, a phd in the field and writes for industry outlets like GCaptain and Freightwaves. Get ready to hear lots of freight brokers claiming that diesel fuel shortages on the East Coast require the US waive the Jones Act and allow cheap foreign tanker ships haul fuels to end our shortage. If you poked a freight broker under anesthesia he would claim waiving the Jones Act was necessary immediately. The fuel shortage is largely a matter of getting fuel to Europe to reduce Russian fuels to Europe, inadequate refining capacity in the US, and low profitability of hauling fuel along the East Coast compared to more profitable contracts moving fuels on longer international trips. Colonial Pipeline was a victim of ransomware and they are the primary source getting fuel via pipeline from Texas to the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.
     
  5. AModelCat

    AModelCat Road Train Member

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    Meh, #### it.

    I'm just waiting for S to HTF.
     
  6. skallagrime

    skallagrime Road Train Member

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    Wait, so the ports cant move cargo out of their ports/drayage companies dont pay trucks/drivers enough to make it worth it, so the solution is to pass the buck and just charge people administration and storage fees?

    Charging more is the answer, but it seems heavily missaplied to where it needs to be. I know container hauling gets a bad rap here generally, but its primarily because it pays so poorly, i could swallow my pride and do container if it paid worth a darn, but it doesnt
     
  7. ZVar

    ZVar Road Train Member

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    Good.
    To be honest I'm a bit surprised they don't charge now.
    All free storage does is make it so the broker can wait until they find someone desperate enough to haul for the usually under market rate.
    If they are forced to either move it or pay storage, well at some point it's cheaper to pay the driver more than the storage fee.
     
  8. striker

    striker Road Train Member

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    Here's the issue, it's not really the steamship lines that are the problem, the railroads carry a lot of the blame.

    Just had a load come in from L.A., it was 20 days China to a dwelling spot off the coast, 14 days dwelling off the coast, then 6 weeks at the port because the railroads don't have the capacity, it's like this at most all the ports, not just west coast, although Seattle/Tacoma don't seem to have as big an issue.

    On the other side of the coin, significant numbers of containers are being repo'd and exported empty to return to China, this is causing a massive shortage for exports, and the dwell time for those empty containers is stupid long, in some cases 4 months, meanwhile, US export loads are rotting because there's no boxes.

    The railroads don't even remotely have the capacity, every int'l export container we pick-up, before we even leave the shipper, we have to check the app to see if there's a gate reservation, if there's not gate res. then the load goes to our yard, and it's not uncommon for the loads to sit up to a week, often times racking of chassis rental and other fees. The railroads, more so the UP than the BN, simply don't have capacity for the volume of freight, although the BN is starting to have issues after nearly 700 quit this year.

    The brokers won't pay the rates for truckers in the middle of the country to DH to the port, get loaded and bring it back, and not all the truckers on the west coast have the equipment or the skills to run stuff inland. The customer I mentioned in my first sentence, she tried for two weeks to get a trucker(s) to bring the load to Denver, but couldn't find one willing to come over the mountains, no matter what she paid.

    Also, either way, these brokers/customers are still paying storage fees, either to the port, or to a trucker somewhere else, it all depends on who is cheaper. We have 20 loads for one customer in our yard, rather than pay dwell fees in L.A., they came to Denver, and are basically rotting in our yard over the summer because the customer doesn't have room for the freight between 4 warehouses in 2 states, they are paying chassis rental fees to the chassis pool, and storage charges to us the trucker for the loads to rot in our yard. We've been told, it may be August before they have space for the product, it arrived in early May.

    Also, this stuff sitting off-shore, the dwell time isn't getting any shorter. We have 7 loads for one customer that might arrive in mid-June, they departed Italy in April, but are stuck off-shore.
     
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