Excerpts from the American Journal of Transportation:
As a result of the surge in import volumes in the ports of LA/Long Beach and the impact on both processing capacity and infrastructure — including trucker turn times and dedicated weekend gates — additional costs have made it into the Supply Chain. A Port Congestion Fee has been introduced to allow us to recover part of these costs and retain shipment flows at maximum levels.
Labor shortages: With the high volumes of peak season, Maersk is seeing a dip in labor availability with truckers, Warehouse & Distribution workers and Longshore Labor. In Maersk Longshore labor – we are seeing more casuals – since registered Longshore workers are reaching their maximum hours – so the labor hall work assignment cycle goes to casuals as next in line.
High dwell times on street chassis (that have import loads and being used as storage) and increased chassis utilization continues to trend. Maersk is seeing out of service chassis levels that are decreasing which will help support peak season needs.