While mid-August marks the height of summer for most Americans, the month signifies the start of a peak season for dockworkers as back-to-school merchandise continues to come in and the holiday cargo rush begins.
“With students getting ready to go back to school and retailers stocking up for the holidays, August has always been a busy time for us,” said Frank Ponce De Leon, ILWU Coast Committeeman. “I expect that the current conditions brought on by extraordinary consumer demands for imported goods will mean this peak season will be unlike any other.”
For the last several months ILWU dockworkers have moved cargo at historic rates. According to figures released in June, West Coast ports experienced a 20- to nearly 45-percent increase in the volume of TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit) moved when compared to the same time in 2020. The Port of Los Angeles even set a new Western Hemisphere record earlier this summer when it moved over 10 million TEUs in a one-year period.
“The pandemic has exacerbated longstanding problems with the nation’s supply chain, not just at the ports but in the warehouses, distribution centers, railroads, and other places that need to run smoothly in order for dockworkers to move cargo off of the ships,” said Cameron Williams, ILWU Coast Committeeman. “We continue to work hard month after month to clear the cargo as quickly as the supply chain allows.”
Industry experts agree that much of the congestion being experienced originates far from the docks as warehouses are full and the shipping containers, rail cars, trucks, and chassis required to move cargo are in short supply
“There may not be a simple solution to immediately resolve our nation’s supply chain issues, but I can tell you that the men and women working at our ports will continue to work hard and do what’s necessary to help ensure that kids have what they need to safely return to school this fall and to celebrate the holidays,” said Williams.