The Biden administration is hopeful new fines imposed on carriers at the nation’s busiest port complex will abate the intensifying logjam of cargo ships.
The twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach announced Monday that containers moved by trucks will have nine days before fines start accruing and containers scheduled to move by rail will have three days.
In accordance with these deadlines, carriers will be charged $100 for each lingering container per day starting Nov. 1.
The Biden administration said on Tuesday that they would continue to press on ways to address issues in the supply chain, and Biden plans to discuss global commerce disruptions with leaders at the G-20 meeting this weekend.
Both Los Angeles and Long Beach are moving 19% more containers than at the same point in 2018, which was the previous record and the ports remain on target to outpace the previous record of 17.5 million containers processed in 2018.
On Oct. 13, 2021, the Biden administration unveiled a plan to run operations 24/7 at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which account for 40% of sea freight entering the United States, in order to address bottlenecks.
And while round-the-clock operations at the twin California ports are expected to alleviate the backlog of container ships, it’s far from solving the compounding issues impacting the global supply chain.
The nation’s knotted supply chain is bearing the brunt of surging consumer demand, high transportation expenses, labor shortages, overseas manufacturing delays, trade policies and inflation.
What’s more, the approaching holiday season has intensified the situation as loosened public health measures and coronavirus vaccines point to larger celebrations this year compared to 2020. The individual consumer will feel enormous inflation together with not being able to purchase the goods if this persists.
