Given the supply chain issues- and the imbalanced inventory for many of our retailers- it’s not surprising that small retailers are finding it almost impossible to rent warehouse space. The big box stores are demanding more and more space- and are willing to pay for it, squeezing out space availability for the smaller retail vendors.
This dilemna is not much different that the smaller retail entities (and, to be honest, the larger ones, too) had last year securing containers on the ocean carriers. But, more to the point, many of these firms are storing their inventory in containers, some of which are still on truck chasses.
This practice creates real problems for the trucks that service our ports. Like the truckers who move containers from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to the warehouses or rail sidings to facilitate the transportation of the products across the USA.
The truckers are being forced to wake up in the middle of the night to try to acquire a truck chassis. They then hitch that chassis to their tractor and hightail it to the port, where they get the container loaded onto that chassis for them to transport it back to the warehouse or rail siding. (That’s two queues- at least- through which they must maneuver.) That means the truckers are now working many more hours- and not generating any more revenue for that effort. Not to mention the high cost of fuel they need to burn for their extra trips.
Moreover, the lack of truck chasses means that the ports are once again becoming congested. Because the truckers can’t accept the container without that chassis. A wait time of 17 days is not out of the question.
Compounding that problem, some of the truck chassis owners (typically the ocean shippers) haven’t fully billed their customers yet, so they won’t let the chassis be transferred to the truckers. And, other carriers have decided that they no longer need to worry about the truck chassis problem- they’ll just deal with the containers. This means there are additional fees for the trucker who needs that chassis ($25-$30 per day), and since this change is so new, there is neither a uniform process or permanent solution to the problem.
This does not bode well for our supply chain- or for a large class of truck drivers.
I have a feeling we will be constantly having problems receiving truck shimpments in a timely manner. On of our friends was a truck hauler, he gave it up to do mechanical work on the trucks instead. Better hours and not on the road weeks at a time.
Yes, I understand, Martha. It’s why the trucking company we ran had all our drivers back by Friday afternoon- and then went out on Sunday evening. We had happy truck drivers- and we paid them well, so they were great ambassadors for our firm.
I have not heard any reporting on this on network news at all. Just when we thought the supply chain issues are being resolved – wondering when this will hit the news. Either that, or I missed it.
I think it may only be in the newspapers where there are ports- or maybe the business journals. But, you are right- we need to be informed about this, Alana. (Which is why I wrote about it 🙂 )