October is upon us, and it seems like it’s already scary… Drama at the ports, hurricanes, chassis shortages, crazy economy, crazy people, full moon, impending doom, rail delays, what else do I have to say? We didn’t start the fire…
The star of the week, Tropical Storm Ian, which is moving across Florida, is expected to strengthen back into a hurricane before it makes landfall in South Carolina Friday. The storm made landfall along the southwestern coast of Florida as a powerful Category 4 hurricane Wednesday. The extremely dangerous conditions that Ian is unleashing, will continue as the storm moves across Florida and north toward Georgia and South Carolina.
And that lovely little lad Ian has decided to add some extra fun to the Supply Chain world causing more closures:
The South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) continues to closely monitor Hurricane Ian. In preparation for the storm and to allow customers and the motor carrier community to properly plan, the SCPA marine terminal gates will follow the schedules below. Friday, September 30, ALL Charleston Marine Terminals CLOSED.
There will be no vessel operations at the Port of Wilmington, due to the anticipated risk of high winds. The South Gate (Container Gate) and container yard operations will be closed. Container free time will be extended one day unless cargo is already in demurrage. The North Gate will remain open for normal operating hours for General Cargo and Tenant traffic.
Jacksonville and Tampa ports remain under Port Condition ZULU. Both ports are still closed to all traffic.
Miami ports are open
Oakland really was feeling lonely last week and wanted some attention this week, here comes another strike. Since there is no labor, SSA/OICT was closed all this week for second shifts and there have been no terminal appointments for OICT/SSA all this week as well
As of this past Monday, OICT will not be accepting MSC or Wan Hai empties and you will need to contact them directly for alternate empty drop locations. CMA CGM Exports are not being accepted at Trapac, if you have current bookings you will also need to check with CMA CGM for further information. With empty return and rolled bookings come chassis shortages, we expect chassis shortages all through October, at best.
OICT will not be able to work additional cranes this upcoming weekend and all next week, a very tough start of October and Q4. SSA will not be able to operate night gate and vessels the rest of this week. No vessels are being unloaded until further notice. For any questions or concerns, please reach out to our Oakland team oakland@portxlogistics.com.
I am still seeing rail delays and rail misrouting’s and we can expect many more rail delays and spectacles due to hurricane Ian. Inbound TEUs are down very slightly .4% this week from last week.
I had a bit of a rough shipment week and it affected my attitude, a lot. So as not to put my bad attitude on display to the world, I spent about 20 minutes this morning looking for a cleaner alternative to how I wanted to phrase this so here goes: What looks unpleasant this week?
- Oakland Strikes are causing closures, backups and booking cancellations, there are currently 48 ships at anchor and 17 arriving early next week
- Florida and Carolina ports have some volume rolling in the end of next week. It Is going to be a hectic start to October in the southeast from closures this week and other further destruction the weather left behind
- NY/NJ Still remains the port with the most incoming volume. Drivers are still waiting hours at PNCT and some not even making it through to get their container after waiting all day. Chassis shortages at some terminals and some steamship lines are still leaving their empties to overfill container yards
What looks a positive this week?
- LA/LGB Volumes are down and capacity is up, get your orders in early for our best capacity
- Savannah Don’t let Hurricane Ian slow down your supply chain. Please let us know how we can help! We have plenty of transload capably as well as plenty of yard space for container pre pulls. Contact the Savannah team Sav@portxlogistics.com
- Houston 3rd quarter volumes are clearing, Port congestion is still a thing, but wait times at the terminals are starting to improve.
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~Jill Rice
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