Market Update: California Backlog and the Mandate Question

The California docks backlog

"Significant progress" is a nice way to say we are still working on a fix for the port backlog.

Local port carriers are still complaining of waiting over 10 hours to pick up one container.

West coast unionized ports have never cared about efficiency, and ships stacking up at the ports does not mean things will get done faster than before. Government pressure adds around-the-clock shifts while saying "this is relieving congestion", but nothing much changes at the ports.

Only time and diverting ships to lower volume ports will ease the congestion.

California docks see 'significant progress' with supply chain backlog, port chief says (continue reading here)

Carriers wait on the employee vaccine mandate

When and if this driver vaccine mandate goes into place, get ready for your cross-border freight rates to double.

The numbers are vague at best, but our internal data shows that it is possible that up to 30 percent of cross-border drivers will leave the market in January to find other work or get vaccinated.

The government does not understand the impact it will have on the already strained supply chain, these changes seem to have been made without taking the cross-border economy with Canada and Mexico into consideration.

Trucking industry leaders “on pins and needles” about possible employee vaccine mandate (continue reading...)