The usual transit time from China to US West Coast ports more than doubled, increasing from 16 days to 36 days in October 2021 and long waiting times outside US ports are a major factor driving supply chain breakdowns in the US.
Transit data and insights provided by digital freight forwarding company Shifl underscores how bad the situation has become, and how much work it will take to get cargo moving on time again.
In a statement, it said between the 2nd half of May 2021 and the 1st half of October 2021, the average transit time from Chinese base ports to the US West Coast ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach increased from 19 to 36 days.
Cargo owner are also currently forced to wait an additional 20 odd days for their products to reach them, which is only part of the equation.
Shifl noted that with the ports facing delays due to lack of adequate landside infrastructure, containers are sometimes forced to be stuck in closed areas within the port delaying inland transit even further leading to potential business-crippling conditions.
“With 40% of US inbound containers moving through Los Angeles and Long Beach ports, efforts by the administration is rightfully focused on a critical node of the global supply chain. The fact that the President of the world’s largest economy is getting involved in addressing this problem is already a huge relief for importers who have been struggling so much,” commented Shabsie Levy, Founder, and CEO of Shifl on the Biden administration’s efforts to relieve supply chain woes by implementing 24/7 operations at the Port of LA and Long Beach.
16 to 36 days transit
“However, this is just the tip of the iceberg and a lot more will need to be done to get our industry under control towards a sustainable future,” Levy added.
“Usually, a ship from Chinese base ports like Shanghai, Ningbo will take between 16-18 days to arrive and discharge cargo at US West Coast ports” the Shifl chief added. “The increase in transit to 36 days, makes it extremely painful for businesses dependent on supply chains.”
“While we are in constant communication with our customers about the location, release, and delivery times of their shipments, when a ship spends 2-3 weeks waiting to unload, that’s a nerve-wracking situation for the customer.”
