Ships Sit Anchored as Bottlenecks Disrupt Business Supply Chains

Main Street businesses are now forced to wait months instead of the usual weeks for a delivery from China, 看不到尽头.

NEW YORK (AP) — A trade bottleneck born of the COVID-19 outbreak has U.S. businesses anxiously awaiting 货物 from Asia — while off the coast of 加州, 数十艘集装箱船停泊在那里, 无法卸货.

The pandemic has wreaked havoc with the supply chain since early 2020, 当时它迫使中国各地的工厂关闭. 当前问题的种子是在去年3月播下的, when Americans stayed home and dramatically changed their buying habits — instead of clothes, 他们买了电子产品, 健身器材和家装产品. U.S. companies responded by flooding reopened Asian factories with orders, leading to a chain reaction of congestion and snags at ports and freight hubs across the country as the 货物 began arriving.

Main Street businesses are now forced to wait months instead of the usual weeks for a delivery from China, 没有人知道这种情况何时会得到解决. 老板们花了很多时间向顾客解释, order more inventory than usual and lower their expectations for when their shipments will arrive.

Alejandro Bras used to be able to place an order to factories in China and expect to receive his products in 30 days. Now, with problems throughout the supply chain, “we’re adding an additional two months,他说. 这两个月是“不确定的”——可能需要更长的时间.

胸罩的公司, Womple工作室, sells monthly subscription boxes with educational crafts and activities for children; many of the products are custom-made, 所以他很难找到替代品.

Bras has found himself spending more time on logistics rather than product development, 还有更多时间向奥克兰号道歉, 加州, 公司的客户，他们希望每个月都有一批货. Customers have been understanding — they realize the pandemic has upset shipping and trade worldwide.

The cluster of ships offshore are perhaps the most dramatic symptom of an overwhelmed supply chain. 随着亚洲产量的激增, more ships began arriving in the fall at ports in Los Angeles, Long Beach and other West Coast cities than the gateways could handle. Ships holding as many as 14,000 containers have sat offshore, some of them for over a week. At times there have been as many as 40 ships waiting; normally, 只有几个人, 据南加州海洋交易所称, 监视端口流量和操作的服务.

“With this type of backlog, it will take several weeks to work through that. 它不会消失. 新的船只正在驶向美国.S. even as we speak,” says Shanton Wilcox, a manufacturing adviser with PA Consulting.

但陆地上也有瓶颈. 它需要8个小时,000辆卡车把货物从船上拖走, 基普·卢提特说, executive director of the Marine Exchange of Southern 加州. 但当所有卡车都上路时, there aren’t enough available when dockworkers are trying to unload the next ships in port. 铁路货运也受到了影响.

“When you have more cargo, you have a less efficient cargo moving system,” Louttit says. 疫情本身也减缓了货物流动, 让港口仓库的工人靠边站, 他说.

把所有的问题放在一起, 当一艘船进港时, it takes five to seven days to unload instead of two to three, 施卢蒂·古普塔说, 他是咨询公司RSM的工业分析师. “这再次对卡车司机和铁路服务产生影响, 因为他们得等到港口清关,她说。.

Businesses also wait because of the high demand for space on ships, and inside the shipping containers that range from 20 to 45 feet long.

“Normally a shipment can be booked with a couple days’ notice and currently you have to book containers 30 days in advance,彼得·曼说, Oransi首席执行官, 一家位于罗利的空气净化器和过滤器制造商, 北卡罗莱纳. He has to account for shipment times twice as long as normal in his operating plans.

When Mann began having trouble getting shipments in the fall, he decided to place larger orders — getting the 货物 manufactured wasn’t a problem and fewer deliveries meant less waiting time. 这意味着在库存上投入更多资金.

Supply disruptions can be a more serious problem for smaller companies because, 不像大公司, they may not be able to shift production to other countries — for example, Western Hemisphere nations whose products can be shipped to East Coast ports. And big companies can better afford to use air freight, which is more expensive than shipping.

Because there’s so much competition for containers, the cost of importing is climbing.

“价格可能高达平时的五倍,克雷格·沃尔夫说, 他的公司, CelebriDucks, has had problems getting rubber ducks from China since the start of the pandemic.

One of Wolfe’s shipments sat on the dock for three weeks because there were no railcars available. Another that he expected to be shipped by mid-February still hasn’t left China.

“It would have arrived by now,” says Wolfe, 他的公司 is based in Kelseyville, 加州. He’s anxious because most of his products aren’t typical rubber ducks — they’re based on presidents and other celebrities and pop culture trends like the Harry Potter books and movies. Like Mann, he’s placed some larger-than-usual orders to be sure he has enough stock.

出口商也感受到了瓶颈的影响. 当集装箱在港口卸货时, many are being sent empty back to Asia instead of being held and filled with U.S. 货物.

以赛亚工业公司将其金属屋顶销往日本, “but we’re having huge delays getting containers scheduled to ship to them. So, we’re sitting here with orders and product to fill those orders but no way to get them shipped,托德·米勒说。, Piqua的主席, 俄亥俄州, 公司.

Miller is also waiting for shipments of raw materials from overseas, including sheeting commonly known as tar paper that is placed under roofing tiles. His problem is he’s competing with every other importer for space on container ships.

“我们可以把它生产出来, but it will take four to six weeks before they can load it on a ship,他说.