Diversions from the West Coast to avoid longshore labor negotiations are creating delays of up to two to three weeks for some ocean cargo moving from Asia to the U.S. East Coast, according to a freight forwarder.
Nelson Cabrera, business development manager at Lilly and Associates International, said the company has informed customers of delays on cargo moving to all U.S. East Coast ports. The cause is an artificial peak season attributable to cargo diversions from the West Coast to avoid longshore labor negotiations between the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Cabrera said.
“Rates are through the roof, and on top of that carriers aren’t always honoring their contract rates,” Cabrera said. “They didn’t anticipate the surge in volume, so their negotiated rates don’t match the volumes they are seeing.”
