U.S. Importers Looking to Avoid Congestion Switching to East and Gulf Coast Ports, Triggering Backups

With well-publicized bottlenecks at the largest West Coast ports, U.S. importers looking to avoid congestion have been switching to East and Gulf Coast ports, triggering backups in those ports as well.

It has been reported that some container terminals are so crowded with boxes, truckers can’t get access to shipments, and ocean vessels are charging shippers late fees for failing to pick up loaded containers quickly enough.

A solution offered by Federal Maritime Commission Chairman Daniel Maffei would be to increase in warehouse space and trucking capacity as well as reduce import volumes.

For insight into shipping bottleneck situations from a claims prospective, see the article, “Over $40B in Cargo on Container Ships Waiting Offshore in the U.S.” by World Insurance Claims Director Richard Kamppari Baker. (https://lnkd.in/eGY2DJw7)