Perishable food shippers have seen costs rise due to port congestion, and labour and pallet shortages, reports IHS Media.
"Some truckers are refusing to pick up containers from certain terminals while others are adding a surcharge for picking up from terminals that suffer from chronic delays. It's really worrisome for produce shippers right now. We finished melon season and are heading into citrus season, and that means a different set of ocean carriers," said Advance Customs Brokers CEO Patricia Compres.
Big global ocean carriers will be transporting citrus on the South America-US trade lane instead of smaller regional carriers.
Said HLB Specialities CEO Andres Ocampo: "On top of freight charges getting higher, other components of the supply chain are also increasing in costs, such as wooden pallets, cardboard, storage fees," he said.
Zim Integrated Shipping Services discontinued its Central China E-commerce Xpress service from calling the Port of Oakland for two months because of severe port congestion in early June.
Said Best Drayage president Cory Peters: "We've had to double our staff over the last six months just because of the amount of work it takes to keep track of changing vessel schedules," he said, adding that every change requires revised paperwork or new documentation.
"It also takes more time for our [customer service representatives] to communicate all the changes to the customers. The administrative work has gone up five to 10 times of what it was previously. The cost of doing business at the Port of Oakland just keeps going up," said Mr Peters.
"Now we're seeing receiving windows as short as one shift. Mostly it's two days, and that's hard enough. But when you don't know if the vessel is going to open or close until the very last minute, it makes it very difficult for shippers to plan in advance. And, if they miss the vessel, they're still going to be charged per diem" storage fees on the container," said Mr Peters.
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