As many know, we’ve been dealing with labor unrest with longshore workers on the west coast…what initially was thought to be in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area…the largest container gateway into the US, but that has evolved into increased traffic flowing into the Seattle and Tacoma area.  What this has done has given both LA and Seattle/Tacoma longshore workers (and their International Longshore and Warehouse Union) an incredible amount of bargaining leverage.

The Longshore and Warehouse Union promised to continue working and bargaining in good faith for the good of our economy but that seems to have changed recently.  We have heard (no one will of course admit this) that there has been a deliberate slowdown of handling containers in both ports, adding to the congestion and lead times to get product into our US market.

Regardless of how you feel about unions or their employers or their benefits or who is right or wrong, we must, absolutely must do what is best for our economy.  We are talking about delayed shipments, spoilage of product, and otherwise damage to an economy that does not need any more problems!

So, don’t shoot the messenger but here are a few options.  We recently sent many containers into New York/New Jersey and had no problems getting the containers unloaded and shipped.  The 4-5 extra days on the water was BETTER than the 2-3 weeks waiting to get product unloaded and shipped.

You can also ship into Savannah, Georgia and like New York/New Jersey use an LTL line to truck your shipment where you need it to go.  Of course, this will cost more, and it stinks to high heaven, and is flat out wrong.  However, it is an option.  You can certainly explore air shipping what you absolutely have to have and plan for additional shipping/delivery times through the west coast.

Folks, see attached articles and information.  We aren’t making this stuff up.  While this sounds cheesy, call your congressman, elected officials, anyone who can start putting pressure on both sides to get this handled for the good of our country and of our economy!

Check out the articles below for more information about the west coast port strike:

Waterfront employers accuse ILWU of slowdowns in Seattle, Tacoma

ILWU calls slowdown accusations at Seattle, Tacoma ‘bold-faced lie’