Secondly, judging from the actual recent operation of the Port of Long Beach in California, which had previously announced that it would enter a "24/7 operation" mode, no significant effect has been seen and the port is still congested.

The "24/7 all-weather operation" plan for U.S. ports promoted by the White House may have little effect.

Many people in the shipping industry said in an interview with China Business News reporter that firstly, given the national conditions of the United States, it remains to be seen how much the White House’s move will bind private companies operating on the terminal; secondly, given the previous The Port of Long Beach in California, which announced that it will enter the "24/7 all-weather operation" mode, has not seen any significant results from its recent operations and is still congested.

Previously, the White House appointed John Porcari, the former chairman of the Maryland Port Commission, as the port envoy. In his recent explanation of the White House's moves, Bockari also revealed that the federal government sees itself as a dialogue intermediary (broker) rather than a regulator in the above-mentioned actions.

As of the 15th, data from the Southern California Shipping Exchange showed that a total of 147 ships were docked at Los Angeles Port and Long Beach Port , of which 59 ships were docked and 88 ships were berthed in the waiting area; 147 ships were docked in the waiting area. Among them, 91 are container ships , of which 62 ships are in the waiting area and only 29 are docked. Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, raised three major challenges: adjusting the 24/7 operating schedule with private operators, recruiting workers for three key types of work, and strengthening port infrastructure.

24/7Why did the operation at the Port of Long Beach not work?

On the 13th local time, US President Biden convened the heads of the US import and export trade portals - the Port of Long Beach and Los Angeles in California, dockworkers, truckers associations and Walmart , UPS and FedEx met at the White House to solve the current supply chain problems in the United States.

The container import and export volumes of the Port of Long Beach and Los Angeles in California account for about 40% of the total container import and export volume in the United States.

The ports, cargo carriers and retailers participating in the meeting all made a promise to Biden to "work overtime and deliver goods quickly across the United States": Among them, the Port of Los Angeles stated that it would open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Operating model; Walmart, UPS and FedEx have also committed to moving to an all-weather, seven-day-a-week model.

Gartner research analyst Brian Whitlock said: "It's great that they chose to do this, but it may cause less than a 1% to 2% change. The above actions will be irrelevant and may even Can’t see (what impact).”

Former U.S. trade negotiator Harry Broadman believes that although the current Biden administration’s plan attempts to solve the problem of container congestion at the port, the main problem that the White House has failed to solve is warehouse workers, Shortages of truck drivers, containers and chassis.

As mentioned earlier, Boracay announced a few weeks ago that it will implement a 24/7 operation plan from Monday to Thursday. However, according to US media data, since the program was launched in September, the Port of Long Beach has had zero labor usage during the increased working hours between 3 a.m. and 7 a.m.

In response, Seroka said extending port hours would do little to address the backlog when truckers and warehouse operators did not also extend their hours.

For example, for truck drivers, picking up goods at night is not ideal when the warehouse is not open at night and they have to find other places to store their goods, Seroka explained, and since the terminal is operated by a private company , port officials are still working with private companies to develop timelines for extended hours and coordinating with importers to pick up cargo, an issue that won't be resolved until everyone in the supply chain is "on the same page" - consider By the time warehouse and trucking companies had fragmented into numerous small and medium-sized companies, it was nearly impossible.

More importantly, the added time will not have a significant impact on alleviating the container backlog. According to calculations by US media, this behavior can help the port transport about 3,500 more containers per week at most. The number of containers currently waiting to be docked and unloaded is about 500,000.

Bruderman said supply chain crises are mostly out of the U.S. president's control unless the government begins to regulate or punish companies within the supply chain.

“There is nothing the Biden administration can do in the short or even medium term."The logistics industry is run by private players, and these private players need to solve this problem," Bruderman said. "

At present, the situation of a large backlog of containers in U.S. ports is still severe. Huo Jianguo, vice president of the China World Trade Organization Research Association , said in an interview with China Business News: "There is a backlog in individual ports in the United States. This is because the working hours of the terminals are not consistent. Normal, operation is not smooth, these are destructive factors in themselves. As long as port operations are not normal, the possibility of a complete drop in shipping prices is relatively small. "

Six major challenges in solving supply chain congestion

After attending the White House meeting, Seroka issued an intriguing statement, saying that the measures in the White House statement "are a commitment from leaders of various industries and a call for others to follow. ".

Subsequently, Seroka said in a video conference on the 14th that before the port officially announced that it could enter a 24/7 all-weather operation mode, he still had a lot of work to do - including working with the shipping terminal, union , Railways, shipping companies, the trucking industry, importers, exporters and more stakeholders discussed. John Porcari, the White House-appointed port envoy, also participated in the meeting.

They focused on the meeting. There are three major issues that need to be resolved: First, organize dialogue with stakeholders and adjust the 24/7 operation schedule.

Seroka said that the Port of Los Angeles cooperates with at least 200,000 import and export companies, through approximately 18,000 people. Truck drivers, more than 100 trains and more than 20 shipping companies are moving goods. The Port of Los Angeles will negotiate with them all in the next step. The first step to promote off-peak operations is to allow operations at the Port of Los Angeles. Marine terminals have reached agreements with unions to determine procedures for overnight operations, Seroka said. As private operators, each terminal may end up doing things differently, and warehouse operators working with the Port of Los Angeles may also need to adjust their processes, Seroka said. To facilitate overnight delivery of products.

Second, recruit three types of workers that are critical to port operations: truckers, dockworkers and, in many cases, warehouse workers. Loss of personnel in the chain will lead to lost productivity.

Bockari said the Biden administration is working directly with states to streamline the process of granting commercial driver licenses to help increase the pipeline of truck drivers

Third, in the long term, strengthen. Port infrastructure.

Bockari acknowledged that the epidemic has exposed weaknesses in the U.S. supply chain, so in addition to the short-term goals mentioned above, the government is also considering long-term resilience.

"These infrastructures are clearly not capable of meeting today's needs, let alone. Explain tomorrow’s needs. "Obviously, the concept of supply chain resilience means that having multiple gateway loading hubs means that the inland transportation system has to be able to accommodate these types of volumes," Bockari said. "

Currently, the Democratic leader of the U.S. House of Representatives has postponed a vote on a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill originally scheduled for September 30, local time. The move provides more opportunities for Biden and Democrats time to gather votes and build support for key parts of his agenda

Seroka said he has given the Biden administration a list of short- and long-term infrastructure needs

“This is not the cargo transport chain of my grandfather’s day. . "But in many cases, we are using infrastructure from our grandfather's time," Bockari said.

Whitlock said IHS Markit data, which measures the speed at which ports handle containers, shows that North American ports are one-third as efficient as Asian ports.

"These efficient ports send large ships out in waves." "However, at the port where the cargo is unloaded, the efficiency is only one-third," he said. Ultimately, they have to do a better job of moving containers out of North American ports.

Will the backlog of containers and delays in picking up goods cause additional costs to China? Cost burden? Huo Jianguo said: "It should have no impact on us. The importer should bear the additional costs such as warehousing fees.However, the terminal is also responsible because the terminal failed to fulfill the contract and is also responsible for the overtime, so even if there is a fine, it is a symbolic fine and the full fine will not be charged. "

At present, the situation of a large backlog of containers in U.S. ports is still severe. Huo Jianguo, vice president of the China World Trade Organization Research Association , said in an interview with China Business News: "There is a backlog in individual ports in the United States. This is because the working hours of the terminals are not consistent. Normal, operation is not smooth, these are destructive factors in themselves. As long as port operations are not normal, the possibility of a complete drop in shipping prices is relatively small. "

Six major challenges in solving supply chain congestion

After attending the White House meeting, Seroka issued an intriguing statement, saying that the measures in the White House statement "are a commitment from leaders of various industries and a call for others to follow. ".

Subsequently, Seroka said in a video conference on the 14th that before the port officially announced that it could enter a 24/7 all-weather operation mode, he still had a lot of work to do - including working with the shipping terminal, union , Railways, shipping companies, the trucking industry, importers, exporters and more stakeholders discussed. John Porcari, the White House-appointed port envoy, also participated in the meeting.

They focused on the meeting. There are three major issues that need to be resolved: First, organize dialogue with stakeholders and adjust the 24/7 operation schedule.

Seroka said that the Port of Los Angeles cooperates with at least 200,000 import and export companies, through approximately 18,000 people. Truck drivers, more than 100 trains and more than 20 shipping companies are moving goods. The Port of Los Angeles will negotiate with them all in the next step. The first step to promote off-peak operations is to allow operations at the Port of Los Angeles. Marine terminals have reached agreements with unions to determine procedures for overnight operations, Seroka said. As private operators, each terminal may end up doing things differently, and warehouse operators working with the Port of Los Angeles may also need to adjust their processes, Seroka said. To facilitate overnight delivery of products.

Second, recruit three types of workers that are critical to port operations: truckers, dockworkers and, in many cases, warehouse workers. Loss of personnel in the chain will lead to lost productivity.

Bockari said the Biden administration is working directly with states to streamline the process of granting commercial driver licenses to help increase the pipeline of truck drivers

Third, in the long term, strengthen. Port infrastructure.

Bockari acknowledged that the epidemic has exposed weaknesses in the U.S. supply chain, so in addition to the short-term goals mentioned above, the government is also considering long-term resilience.

"These infrastructures are clearly not capable of meeting today's needs, let alone. Explain tomorrow’s needs. "Obviously, the concept of supply chain resilience means that having multiple gateway loading hubs means that the inland transportation system has to be able to accommodate these types of volumes," Bockari said. "

Currently, the Democratic leader of the U.S. House of Representatives has postponed a vote on a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill originally scheduled for September 30, local time. The move provides more opportunities for Biden and Democrats time to gather votes and build support for key parts of his agenda

Seroka said he has given the Biden administration a list of short- and long-term infrastructure needs

“This is not the cargo transport chain of my grandfather’s day. . "But in many cases, we are using infrastructure from our grandfather's time," Bockari said.

Whitlock said IHS Markit data, which measures the speed at which ports handle containers, shows that North American ports are one-third as efficient as Asian ports.

"These efficient ports send large ships out in waves." "However, at the port where the cargo is unloaded, the efficiency is only one-third," he said. Ultimately, they have to do a better job of moving containers out of North American ports.

Will the backlog of containers and delays in picking up goods cause additional costs to China? Cost burden? Huo Jianguo said: "It should have no impact on us. The importer should bear the additional costs such as warehousing fees.However, the terminal is also responsible because the terminal failed to fulfill the contract and is also responsible for the overtime, so even if there is a fine, it is a symbolic fine and the full fine will not be charged. "