Supply chain delay have caused goods congestion in West America again! Maersk issued a warning of August cargo volume, calling on shippers to return the containers as soon as possible!

    Affected by the epidemic and weather conditions, while everyone is worried about the increasing congestion of Asian ports, the delays of the west coast ports of the United States have recurred.

    AIS data on the 8th showed that about 30 ships berthed off San Pedro Bay from the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach in San Pedro Bay. Maersk warned customers of serious delays.

    Maersk told customers that the situation in Southern California has "deteriorated" and the number of ships at anchorage has doubled in the past few weeks. In addition, the carrier stated that on the east coast and southeast, truck transportation has been delayed for two weeks, container detention time has increased, and chassis supply has encountered further difficulties. Railway congestion has further exacerbated the delays in the delivery of imported goods from the United States and the return of empty containers to Asia.

    According to the Danish shipping company, the average detention time of containers in the United States has increased by 35%, which means that overall capacity has been reduced by 35%. Maersk said: "In the past few weeks, we have noticed a rapid increase in the average detention time of containers." And added: "The impact of this is that the long-term detention of containers has also aggravated most of the Midwest and the Northeast. There is a growing shortage of chassis in some areas."

   "To make matters worse, there is now a shortage of rail vehicles and limited rail yard capacity, which has led to an overall decrease in the number of services from the West Coast. All in all, in the Southwest Pacific, chassis availability is once again the top issue. As the supply of rail vehicles is still limited, The entry of railways into the Midwest is a major issue on the agenda."

     According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), August seems to be the cruelest month for trans-Pacific American shippers, because the number of containers entering North America is expected to hit a record when the supply chain is already overloaded. A new record for shipping demand during the holiday season. At the same time, Maersk also issued a warning that as the supply chain will face greater pressure this month, the company urges customers to return containers and chassis as soon as possible.

      Maersk said in a customer consultation last week that due to the increasing congestion, it "needs critical assistance from customers." The world’s largest container carrier stated that customers have held containers and chassis for much longer than usual, causing a shortage of imports and increasing delays at the ports of departure and destination.

      "The mobility of terminal cargo is a challenge. The longer the cargo stays in the terminal, warehouse or railway terminal, the more difficult the situation will be," Maersk said. "I hope that customers returning the chassis and containers as soon as possible will give us and other suppliers the opportunity to ship the equipment back to the high-demand port of departure at a faster speed."

     The carrier said that the shipping terminals in Los Angeles, New Jersey, Savannah, Charleston, Houston, and the rail ramp in Chicago will extend business hours and open on Saturday to speed up cargo transportation. Maersk added that the current situation does not seem to end anytime soon.

     Maersk said: "We don't expect congestion to be alleviated in the short term...On the contrary, it is expected that the increase in the transportation volume of the entire industry will continue until the beginning of 2022 or even longer."