re: #235 Shropshire Slasher

Most goods by weight are transported from ship to rail, and there are significant logjams elsewhere in the system, like around Chicago. Containers are stuck there, and resources are not available to move them. Shipping industry is more accustomed to seasonal ebb and flow, but the changes they’re seeing due to the pandemic are causing surges and logjams almost weekly.

It’s causing everyone to rethink how to deal with shipping. There aren’t enough truckers for goods. Ships are stuck waiting to even offload their goods in port. Just in time processes are showing the strain because the system can’t cope with the delays, particularly affecting core goods for larger durable goods like vehicles, and that has a trickle down effect as well.

Shifting cargo from West Coast to East Coast might help in some cases, but that means transiting the Panama Canal, which also sees more traffic and higher rates.

Experts are hoping to see things return to a more normal condition next year, and that has a lot to do with getting the pandemic under control, especially outside the US.