How about the USA build a deep, wide America Canal along the US southern border all the way to the Gulf with ports in New Mexico, Arizona, Texas,Mississippi,Louisiana,Alabama and the west side of Florida.
Competition is whats needed.

Well at least the Vaccine Mandates, should help.

‘We Reject These Dictatorial Policies’: International Dockworkers Council Issues Statement Backing Workers Striking Against Vaccine Mandate

The International Dockworkers Council, an international nonprofit association comprised of 92 dock workers organizations from 41 countries, and representing 100,000 affiliated members, has issued a statement in solidarity with dock workers around the world striking against unlawful vaccine mandates.

If there's any silver lining to all of this, perhaps going forward the west will reconsider the wisdom of relying so heavily on the east for critical items. Hopefully this crisis will cause everybody to rethink if cheapest should be the paramount consideration when deciding where to source manufacturing.

quote:

Originally posted by armored:
How about the USA build a deep, wide America Canal along the US southern border all the way to the Gulf with ports in New Mexico, Arizona, Texas,Mississippi,Louisiana,Alabama and the west side of Florida.
Competition is whats needed.

That would never happen. We can't even build a wall to protect our border, let alone the massive work needed to build a canal. Also we were dumb enough to give the Panama Canal back to Panama. Panama now charges ships around $1 million for the larger container ships just to pass through the canal. The use it was pennies compared to that.

quote:

Originally posted by Broadside:
Unfortunately, the Secretary of Transportation being out on paternity leave isn't helping things.

Actually, I'm willing to bet that things will run better WITHOUT him.

New article from the Washington Examiner:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news...cid=msedgdhp&pc=U531

Give no-show Buttigieg full-time paternity leave — abolish his department

Here's a question for you: What if a Cabinet secretary took a couple months off from work and nobody noticed?

What if his extended vacation took place right amid a crisis in which one would expect his agency to be of paramount importance, and it turned out that no one even thought to turn to him for answers?

This is exactly what just happened with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. The new adoptive father took paternity leave starting two months ago and has been missing in action ever since, just when the nation's transportation infrastructure has come under unprecedented pressure. Not only are supply chains strained at the moment, but Congress and the president are also attempting to push through a major infrastructure package.

One would imagine that a transportation secretary would become relevant in such a situation. Then again, that presupposes that the Transportation Department has any sort of relevance.

What does the Department of Transportation do? In theory, some of its component agencies — for example, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Aviation Administration — have functions pertaining to interstate travel, but these operate as nearly independent entities. Even transportation security is handled by Homeland Security, a completely separate department.

Former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao did actually try to do something productive from within the department by forcing California to conform with federal standards for automobile emissions. But that's pretty rare. More often, this agency is either ignored, as when President George W. Bush appointed a holdover from former President Bill Clinton's administration to the post for the first six years of his presidency, or treated as a bauble for the president's political allies. And who was more deserving of a bauble than Buttigieg, who quit the 2020 presidential race after winning Iowa and endorsed Biden so as to prevent Bernie Sanders from becoming the Democratic presidential nominee?

Buttigieg, when asked last week about the shipping crisis, characterized it as a "private sector problem." This just illustrates how wrongheaded his mindset really is. Instead of trying to evade direct blame, a competent leader would be thinking about specific things government can do to make things run more smoothly — to get out of the way and help the private actors mitigate the crisis. Well, at least he was finally back from vacation.

Republicans have criticized Buttigieg for being an absentee secretary, and they have a point. But the truth is, it hardly matters either way. Buttigieg is already a member of Biden's Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force, and he has no more of a clue than anyone else in Biden's administration on how to solve this or any of the multiple crises Biden has allowed to accumulate. Things didn't get much better or worse without him because his job is superfluous and should probably be abolished.

I'm betting it's the California longshoremen flexing their Union's muscles.

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:
I'm betting it's the California longshoremen flexing their Union's muscles.

^^^^ Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!

I have a friend who owns a large trucking/logistics company that only services LA and Long Beach ports - he concurs.

These shortages are causing major problems across the country.
Why haven't states activated the National Guard to assist? The destruction of the economy doesn't rate high enough?

Give me a break. This whole supply chain crisis is being orchestrated by the same folks who brought us Covid-19 and the great reset.

quote:

Why haven't states activated the National Guard to assist?

What makes you think that the NG will even respond for muster and roll call? It’s not like they are sitting around in their armories all day long, drinking coffee, eating donuts, playing cards, and watching TV. They are out there in the real world with real jobs.

And thanks to General “Thoroughly Modern” Milley, there is a “crisis in leadership” that has now been opened wide for all to see.

Will they show for response to a natural disaster (flood, fire, earthquake, etc.); sure. But for an man-made economic disaster created for political advantage and personal gain; guess again.

quote:

Originally posted by 2BobTanner:

quote:

Why haven't states activated the National Guard to assist?

But for an man-made economic disaster created for political advantage and personal gain; guess again.

Thank you, 2BobTanner.
We already knew the answer.

If there was no "consumer demand" would there be a supply chain shortage. What's the shortage, is it real, who benifits from the sales now ongoing? Do you really need that 'stuff'?

quote:

quote:
Why haven't states activated the National Guard to assist?

They can unload the ships and pack the trucks right after they get off their shifts as health-care workers.

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:

quote:

quote:
Why haven't states activated the National Guard to assist?

They can unload the ships and pack the trucks right after they get off their shifts as health-care workers.

Someone has to dole out those Covid vaccines.

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
There simply aren't enough truck drivers. We have spent the last few decades regulating the piss out of truckers. From ELDs to the drug clearinghouse, and everything in between, it is not something that anybody wants to do. Adding to the problem, I have heard for the past ten years about how all truck drivers will be replaced with automation. Do you think this makes a young person want to enter the profession?

When there's a shortage of drivers, the shittiest stuff goes first. This is CA and port freight. BTW, there are no significant trucker's unions which can influence the industry.

I think this was Jimmy Carter's plan when they deregulated trucking way back then. He wanted to bust the union.

quote:

Originally posted by aileron:

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:
I'm betting it's the California longshoremen flexing their Union's muscles.

^^^^ Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!

I have a friend who owns a large trucking/logistics company that only services LA and Long Beach ports - he concurs.

Replace them with automatic cranes. Why in the world would we be using humans to off load and load shipping containers? Robots will work 24/7 and be much cheaper in the long run.

Much of it is human greed and panic, fueled by the media, this week no less than a half dozen stories on local news about shortages at the food stores and how people will not have Turkey, ham, gravy etc for Thanksgiving.

So what's happening, panic buying, and people don't buy one of the items, them buy more than they need.

Self fulfilling prophecy of sorts

Texas should take the Mexican Cession Territory.
Problem solved.

https://www.breitbart.com/econ...rge-california-asia/

Shipping costs are surging around the globe, causing the price of sending a container from Asia to the West Coast to increase many times over.

When Donald Trump was president in 2020, the price to ship a container from Asia to California was $3,800. That price spiked to $17,000 in October of 2021, according to supply chain technology company Freightos.

Freightos also revealed that shipping to the east coast is more expensive than the west coast, with rates reaching $20,000.

The increase in shipping cost is primarily due to the supply chain crunch, which is jamming seaports, trucking companies, and warehouses.

More than 100 ships were reported this week to be anchored off the coast of California while waiting their turn to dock and unload full containers. But the seaports are stocked so high that ports are forcing vessels to wait up to two weeks before unloading.

The delay in unloading the containers at the ports delays the ships’ return voyage to Asia to collect more containers for the next shipment, which only backlogs ports in Asia and further delays the flow of goods to the United States.

quote:

Originally posted by sdy:
https://www.breitbart.com/econ...rge-california-asia/

Shipping costs are surging around the globe, causing the price of sending a container from Asia to the West Coast to increase many times over.

When Donald Trump was president in 2020, the price to ship a container from Asia to California was $3,800. That price spiked to $17,000 in October of 2021, according to supply chain technology company Freightos.

Freightos also revealed that shipping to the east coast is more expensive than the west coast, with rates reaching $20,000.

The increase in shipping cost is primarily due to the supply chain crunch, which is jamming seaports, trucking companies, and warehouses.

More than 100 ships were reported this week to be anchored off the coast of California while waiting their turn to dock and unload full containers. But the seaports are stocked so high that ports are forcing vessels to wait up to two weeks before unloading.

The delay in unloading the containers at the ports delays the ships’ return voyage to Asia to collect more containers for the next shipment, which only backlogs ports in Asia and further delays the flow of goods to the United States.

Everything about this is bad, but this may be the silver lining.

If enough shit made in China starts becoming more expensive, we may start onshoring manufacturing again, or at least in other countries that aren’t actively trying to start WWIII.