Hundreds of truck drivers wait for dozens of ships to unload their containers in California as the White House announces that it will now work 24 hours a day in an attempt clear the backlog

Kinda shoots a hole in the whole "short on trucks to haul them" mantra we've heard the last few weeks............

Long lines of drivers waiting is an every day occurrence at the ports. It is not a good thing. Idling trucks for hours waiting at the ports for containers to be taken off ships burns driver HOS; meaning that they might only be able to do 1 or at the maximum 2 loads a day. Unless Biden wants to suspend the HOS rules there are still only a limited amount of drivers; and hours that they can work.  Also, carriers charge customers for driver detention at the ports- so the time that those drivers are sitting idle will be factored into the final cost of the product.

This surge in pickups will only last as long as there are chassis available for them to put containers on. There is already a severe shortage of chassis at the ports.

supplychainbrain

Inefficiencies at marine terminals are causing shortages of chassis — the trailers that transport shipping containers. Container volumes across the U.S. supply chain are stretching assets and manpower well beyond capacity. Fulfillment is currently at around   1 6 % , as dwell times prevent chassis from coming back to the port quickly and efficiently.

As ports call on ocean carriers to share advance shipment information to help increase cargo velocity, some say the answer is to simply build more chassis. However, it takes a long time to build new equipment, and manufacturers already can’t build chassis fast enough to fill the influx of pre-peak orders. In addition, some carriers are wary of taking on too much financial liability with new equipment that could one day sit dormant. With that in mind, intermodal equipment providers (IEPs) will fill an important void.

Not only do IEPs provide flexible leasing and rental options, they also carry the load for repairing the equipment. To put the scale of current chassis maintenance requirements into perspective, there are currently   3,240 chassis   in need of repair at Los Angeles and Long Beach marine terminals. Most IEPs also offer flex-leasing options, which is important because it protects carriers during down periods. However, chassis shortages are even beginning to impact IEPs. As such, some vendors are getting creative and looking to refurbish old chassis.

 Sourcing old, broken-down chassis from “chassis graveyards” is proving to be a faster process than coming up with brand new ones. It’s also one of the few options available for equipment providers hoping to keep costs low. But the downside to this is that most shippers and draymen want new chassis.

Given the available options, it’s clear that there’s no perfect solution for bringing more chassis to freight carriers. However, independent marketplaces can help ease much of the strain. Driven by powerful technology, these platforms offer shippers, owner-operators and fleet managers predictive load=matching technologies that connect carriers with available loads. This helps trucking companies put more focus on moving loads and less on fleet management.

dailybreeze

Often, Schrap said, truckers will wait with an unloaded container to drop off — in what is known as a “dual transaction” when also picking up loaded cargo — only to be redirected to another terminal because the types of empties vary and all may not be accepted at that particular time at a specific terminal.

“There’s a tremendous amount of congestion,” he said, “and you can’t violate the law of physics that says there’s only so much space to go around.”

Added complications occurred this summer when the Chicago rail hub also began backing up with cargo being brought from Pacific ports.

I would love to say that just increasing the port hours of operation was going to be an instant cure all; but lack of warehouse space around the ports, ongoing chassis shortages, lack of rail cars and crews to run trains, and just a plain lack of drivers is going to prevent the opening of ports 24/7 from being a cure all. Even if they somehow manage to take care of all of these problems at the LA ports; they will create a bottleneck at every major rail hub across the US- which are already over capacity. 

I deal with this every day at work; and have to explain to customers why they can't get their product. That discussion isn't even as fun as when the costs around moving these containers to delivery come up. 

The demurrage/detention bill on the containers and chassis after the free time is used is in the multi millions of dollars and increasing at an amazing level.

Many of these shipping yards already work 24/7.  So it begs to question why are these ships taking so long to unload?   Lack of qualified employees to operate the cranes, forklifts and container handlers?  Customs?  

Many of these shipping yards already work 24/7.  So it begs to question why are these ships taking so long to unload?   Lack of qualified employees to operate the cranes, forklifts and container handlers?  Customs?  

Normal hours for the pier is one shift 7am to 4pm and a second shift from 6pm to 3am. Rarely is there a 3rd shift.

As I have explain in earlier article, the problem is that the volume is well past record levels. The pandemic has sidelined up to 20% of longies with either symtoms or the actual diease. The back up extends far inland, inland storage depots are overwhelmed, the lack of containercars and power from the railroad, in the Western US there is only 3.8% available space in warehouses and the warehouses are using containers as warehouse creating a huge imbalance in the Load/empty/chassis inventory. In the LA area there is no available warehouse space. 

Customs is not the problem since most ships cargo is cleared before the ships reaches port. 

When all of this hits at the same time you have the perfect storm and that is what your seeing now. It is not confinded to LA/LB it's basicly the whole world is experiencing this. 

Normal hours for the pier is one shift 7am to 4pm and a second shift from 6pm to 3am. Rarely is there a 3rd shift.

So it's down to the qualifications and number of the longshoremen / dock workers and possibly customs.  

No that is not correct at all. I pointed out all of the bottlenecks in the system, If lines wanted a third shift all they had to do was pay for it. 

The longies DO NOT WORK FOR THE CONTAINER LINES OR THE PIER OPERATORS, THEY WORK FOR THE UNION. The line contacts the union and asks for so many gangs for such and such a shift that is how it works.

Actually it is California and the union..............

Biden announced that, after weeks of negotiations, the Port of Los Angeles has joined the Port of Long Beach in allowing 24/7 operations, which is the norm for most such facilities around the world, but which conflicted with union contracts in California.

msn

Actually Jim, the same union and locals and works both LA and LB and the only Terminal working a 24 hour shift in LB is Terminal T which services China Shipping and Yang Ming lines. The container line is paying for the 3rd shift which by the way is a 5 hour shift not an 8 hour shift. 

FYI, most US ports no do work a 24/7 schedule. 

Reading the longshoreman union contract would help the media before they make comments. 

but which conflicted with union contracts in California.

Messing with companies contracts is another problem that the Biden administration has already screwed with.  

The union contract does not prohibit a 3rd shift. 

Kinda shoots a hole in the whole "short on trucks to haul them" mantra we've heard the last few weeks...........

Actually, it doesn't at all. The harbor haulers employ thousands of trucks. It's not unusual to see 100 to 200 trucks from one company pulling a 500 containers MLB in 8 to 12 hours when the ports were operating without the backup. 

As of the middle of this month in LB/LA harbor, there were over 700,000 containers on ships at anchor waiting to be unloaded. 

I understand what you are saying and also understand your expertise and tenure in this business however, yes we have heard that there are not enough trucks as one of the excuses for not being able to move product.

yes we have heard that there are not enough trucks as one of the excuses for not being able to move product.

And that is a correct statement, there is a lack of trucks when you consider the amount of volume. There is also a lack of warehouse space, a lack of empties a lack of chassis, railcars, rail power and inland CY space. If the warehouse can't unload the container because they have no space 50 more containers delivered there isn't going to clear the problem. The major warehouses are going to have to operate on and 24/7 schedule to even start to put a dent into the backlog.

Jim, it is not an excuse. It is the truth. 

Everything Kavika is stating is absolutely correct. 

In post 1.1 I put links to articles I send my customers explaining what is going on at the ports.

I am no fan of Biden's; but this is beyond his control. If he manages to remove one bottleneck- in this case it will lead to others. The lack of port drivers; and the HOS rules that they have to run under becomes the issue. Remove that and it will be a lack of chassis; warehouse space; intermodal rail cars; OTR drivers to deliver material from the warehouses; and crews and engines to run extra trains. Manage to fix all that and you run into problems grounding the trains at the destination; lack of chassis; and lack of drivers to deliver them. Places like Chicago are already over capacity with far more loads to deliver than drivers.

Kavika has done a far better job of stating the problems than I have. It is hard to explain everything involved unless you deal with the ports on a daily basis.

Jim, it is not an excuse. It is the truth.  Everything Kavika is stating is absolutely correct. 

I realize that and between the two of you, I have a much better understanding of the "not so easy to see for the untrained eye" problems. Thanks to you both.

With truck drivers sitting waiting for loads there are DOT Hours of Service requirements the drivers have to abide by. This can seriously hinder operations at a port if there are not enough drivers / co-drivers to move the freight.

ecfr

Correct. The communication between the ports, carrier dispatches, and drivers needs to be better. Long lines of hundreds of drivers sitting idle is not doing anyone any good.

Any non-company truck drivers don't get paid while stationary.  Eventually they will seek loads elsewhere just to they can get paid as well.  I would.

very correct , currently im hauling sugar beets , have to leave here shortly to do my mini laps from field to beet dump. thing is , it doesnt take long to swap out trailers and i could be hauling barley this afternoon , or mag water . it can also not be a shortage of drivers or tractors , but what those drivers and tractors haul as trailers ,  if they are not available , things dont get moved .

I don't know of any owner operators that run the ports on their own; usually they are contracted with a larger carrier and run under their authority. Unless they are pulling for a larger chain store like Walmart; even then they are still under contract.  

Correct, and the problem will get bigger and bigger as time goes on. 

As an example here is one customer in the inland empire around 55 miles from the port. Their warehouse is completely full and it's 450,000 sq ft. They currently have 150 loaded containers sitting in their yard because they have no space to unload them. There are at least another 250 to 300  waiting on ships to be unloaded.  They can't empty their warehouse because of the lack of trucks and drivers.

That is just one warehouse in the LA area and there are hundreds in the same situation.

Does the commitment from the big companies like Walmart, Target, etc to start running 24/7 help the issue or is it just optics?

If they have the room in their warehouse it will help. If they don't then it's just optics. Walmart has their own fleet of trucks and drivers so they can do better at delivering than many other companies but they, like everyone else are short of drivers and recruiting as many new ones as possible.

Walmart is offering $8,000 sign on bonuses.

truckinginfo

I think the companies that Biden said he was working with to get commitments from were all ones that had their own trucks. I think there will be some fairly aggressive hiring in trucking and warehousing.

Target does not have its own fleet of trucks, they are all ouside trucking companies that move their cargo.

The driver shortage predates the pandemic and the empty driver positions are not being filled at the needed and I don't see an end to this for quite some time.

They will have to build the warehouses; and have them located close enough to the LA ports to make them useful. Not sure how possible that will be giving zoning laws; but regardless it will take time. 

Kavika and I were chatting and she mentioned that warehouse space has been booked up all the way to Nevada already. 

Every trucking company I work with is already aggressive in hiring new drivers. The truck driving schools can't crank new drivers out fast enough. 2 carriers I work with are paying for the schooling of any new potential drivers so long as they sign with their company for 3 years after they graduate and get certified. Signing bonuses on top of that. Waiting for winter to see how many of these new drivers will really stick. 

Thank you - all of you.  Have never understood how the logistics side of the house worked with ports.

While in the CG, I conducted container inspections for compliance in Norfolk and Miami - nothing at all like you've described.

Thank you again for the information and clarification.

It's nice to finally see a Biden boat parade. "Build Back Better Later"

"Build Back Better Later"

Or "Build Backlog Better"