I’m A Twenty Year Truck Driver, I Will Tell You Why America’s “Shipping Crisis” Will Not End

MEDIUM.COM ^ | 27 OCTOBER 2021 | RYAN JOHNSON

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

I have a simple question for every ‘expert’ who thinks they understand the root causes of the shipping crisis: Why is there only one crane for every 50–100 trucks at every port in America? No ‘expert’ will answer this question. I’m a Class A truck driver with experience in nearly every aspect of freight. My experience in the trucking industry of 20 years tells me that nothing is going to change in the shipping industry.

[1Old Pro]

It will end at some point, but probably not with the same systems for transport, and not very soon.

Driverless trucks.

[central_va]

This is the first article I've seen on this subject that actually mentions what is probably the single biggest factor in the supply chain fiasco in the U.S.: an insufficient supply of container chassis at our ports.

Your post relies on accepting that off shoring industry to the 3rd world is a given, viable in the long term and a good thing. The core problem is we need to start to make everything in the USA AGAIN.

[Fester Chugabrew]

Possibly. Also a viable system more efficient than either train or truck. More automation. Times are changing. There are some good problem solvers out there, but not in DC.

[JohnnyP]

Cranes cost more than trucks.

[SFConservative]

Wait, they tariff us we don’t tariff imports much at all.

That is not the point. The fact that there are tariffs at all in so-called "free trade agreements" shows that they are not free trade agreements but government constructs to pick winners and losers. The didn't embrace Free Trade, they embraced pretending to support free trade in order to con the electorate and reward their big contributors.

[Alberta's Child]

As I've posted to you multiple times on this subject, you'd see similar problems even if every product purchased in the U.S. was made in the U.S.

Note the author's point about the bottleneck in the nation's largest RAIL hub. That problem isn't confined to imports and exports.

[Harpotoo]

Maybe you all should vote in better representation or does Dominion tally the votes for DEM(s only)???

[central_va]

As I've posted to you multiple times on this subject, you'd see similar problems even if every product purchased in the U.S. was made in the U.S.

Oh dear God your are beyond help, pathetic. Let me try once again to help you: I can assure you this port bottleneck problem would NOT be happening if the USA was self sufficient in manufacturing.

If a factory is in Ohio and not China then the truckers could use standard semi trailers and not intermodel boxes. This would alleviate 90% of the problem. Load the truck at the factory in Ohio in a standard semi trailer then off to the warehouse(s) in a few hours and not weeks stuck on a f---ing ship.. Bada Bing Bada Boom.

Ok like you are a third grader:

Good:

Bad:

[dakine]

I golfed regularly with a guy who was a Longshoreman in Hawaii.. He said they could shutdown the Islands anytime they wanted - cause folks would give in to their demands for fear of losing access to TP, etc..

Good news - I once mentioned/complained about the Lighter stopped working in my ‘85 Honda CRX - next time we played a round, he handed me lighter he ‘found’ in a newly imported Honda..

[pierrem15]

The Fed gov restricts port drivers as do the ports, the carriers won't pay for the extra driver certifications, there are no extra chassis, the warehouses are too understaffed to unload, etc., etc. What can the union do? I'm sure its members are happy to collect overtime while waiting.

We developed an "ultra efficient" distribution system based on low wages and neglecting infrastructure.

Shippers and manufacturers profited from this for years. Now they will make even more money after having raped the system into its current state.

Sounds like just about everything else in the USA right now: the gold mine for liars, thieves and politically connected, the shaft for everyone else.

[magyars4]

Following

[ShadowAce]

Did not read article because opening “hook” question was stupid. Why 1 crane for 50 to 100 trucks? How many containners can a crane pick up per day to load on a truck (dunno, but more than 1). How many containers can a truck carry? 1.

That's the problem. One container per truck. One crane per 50 trucks. That is why we have over a hundred ships waiting to get into port. It takes time to move a truck out of the way and position the next one. Now you have trucks lined up at the cranes. Cranes only move at a certain speed.

The port bottleneck is at the crane. Increase the number of cranes, you lower the bottleneck.

[knarf]

MEME ed

https://i.imgflip.com/5slseu.jpg

[knarf]

Look at my #53

[Robert357]

Where to start. There is so much wrong right now.

First, a big part of the problem is the modern manufacturing principal of “just in time” inventory. This is a “risky” concept designed to lower inventory costs and improve profits. It requires dedicated parts & materials suppliers who are fully committed to their client's success. It also requires a dedicated supply transportation chain. The shut down of business in all parts of the world destroyed the ability to manufacture and ship parts.

Let, me amplify a little on this supply transportation problem. Before the pandemic, if high value and critical parts were needed quickly they would be shipped via air-freight in the holds of passenger airplanes from China. When the pandemic hit, passenger flights were canceled and so the amount of air freight capacity quickly reduced. Also ports were closed as the pandemic swept ports world wide.

Next, a long time I go I was a casual card carrying member of the ILWU (yes, the longshoreman's union). They made it incredibly hard to get anything but a casual card. They wanted a shortage of labor as it helped them boost crane operator salaries to (or higher than) those of doctors and other white collar professionals. The quantity of ILWU members is limited by the union rules and they are a tough union known not not caring about anything but their members pocketbooks.

Now we get to trucking. The assault on independent owner operators and their livelihood has been relentless. Let's look at California AB-5, since the Port of LA seems to be focal point. AB-5 is about making independent contractors into “employees” to make them easier to unionize and to get them to make many more tax and tax-like payments to the State of California. Combine this with increased in state and local fuel taxes and with mandates on converting portions of the trucking fleets into electric vehicles shows why some wonder about their future as truck drivers, especially independent driver owners.

Demographics. The workforce has a real older demographic bulge in many critical supply train industries. Part of it is the baby-boomers, part of it is unions, and part of it is companies retention/hiring policies. So many older people I know, based on Covid shutdowns, crazy work rules, etc. have decided retirement to get out of the craziness is not a bad option. This is especially true for those that have good union pension plans or have equity in assets they can sell (like a tractor trailer rig).

Next let us look at government economic policy and how that plays into the demographics. I know people who when their jobs were ended because of government Covid business closures, lost their health insurance and lost their salaries or income streams. Many of them opted to go on retirement and social security and medicare to make ends meet. Once you start drawing social security (especially before your full retirement age) should you be foolish enough to go back to work, you will find out that social security drops your payments dramatically based on how much you earn. It is a pretty steep tax that discourages going back to work.

Next let's look at the Port's. What are the Port's doing. The Port of LA has been recently facing a huge backlash from areas near the ports. They have been having containers and trailers to park in local neighborhoods, just to get them out of the docks and holding areas. So much so that neighborhoods have complained and the State of California has looked for public lands where containers can be temporarily stored. Storing containers on trailers contributes to shortage of trailers making it more difficult for truckers to move to their destinations and more difficult to find other trailers that can be used to unload containers onto. Right now there is a huge shortage of trailers, as too many are being used for storage rather than transport.

So in another move the Port of LA has gone to 24/7 operations. The ILWU really wasn't happy about that. Furthermore, the Port recently imposed certain fee surcharges based on how long a container stays on the docks. This means that freight forwarders to avoid huge charges need to minimize the time their containers are on Port property. So even if they can't get them to where the goods need to go, the freight forwarder will get the container on a trailer and temporarily park it off of Port property. Hence contributing factors to unhappy neighborhoods and a shortage of trailers. Also some ships are not docking unless they know their their cargo will be unloaded quickly.

Let's not talk about the Covid vaccination mandates and how that is setting with those who work in the supply chain as that is a whole new set of issues.

There are so many interlocking and structural problems with the supply chain and the manufacturing/assembly process that solving them requires skillfully and creatively balancing all kinds of competing goals. Government is not very good at that kind of thing.

That is why this supply chain problem will not end soon.

[knarf]

I retired out of driving 11 years ago at 62.

obumbles was still in office and it didn't look worth it to stick it out another 3 or more years for a couple of hundred dollars.

God bless the ones in key positions that stay in.

[Alberta's Child]

If a factory is in Ohio and not China then the truckers could use standard semi trailers and not intermodel boxes.

Oh, would you please stop. You have no idea what the hell you're talking about. I have published reports on this subject that you can review online and download.

Let me give a brief lesson in intermodal shipping that even you can understand. Look at this photo below:

The Maersk container on the bottom is a 40-foot international shipping container.

The APL Logistics container on top is a 53-foot domestic shipping container that is sized to match the maximum length of a standard box trailer in the U.S.

The container on top was never on a ship before it was stacked on this train -- and yet there are thousands of these containers being moved across North American by Class I railroads every day.

The 53-foot container is used extensively in the U.S. for domestic freight transportation. That's because for distances over 400-500 miles, a freight railroad can transport most non-perishable commodities more cost-effectively this way than a trucking company can.

Please do us all a favor and educate yourself before you spout your nonsense here on FR.

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

If you take a big step back the real story is that we have rapidly transitioned to an economy that is way more “command and control” than it ever was and guess what?

The same result has happened every other time it has been tried. Shortages.

The specifics of every situation (e.g shipping, cranes, trucks) may each have their unique aspects but the basic laws of economics remain in force.

Here’s where looking at the individual trees may have some value but the forest is probably more important.

[Alberta's Child]

The port bottleneck is at the crane. Increase the number of cranes, you lower the bottleneck.

Which crane? Check out the photo below. The large blue gantry cranes are used to unload the ships onto yard tractors that move the containers over to the stacks on the far left side of the photo. The yellow yard cranes on the left are used to move a container from the yard tractor onto a stack, and then later to move the container from the stack onto the chassis of the port truck that comes to pick it up and deliver it to the customer.

[Adder]

They have: he gets paid hauling or not.