- weak links in the supply chain
- the cause of this is a huge increase in demand
- the national labor shortage plays a role in the supply-chain crisis
- a 30% increase in cargo activity year over year
The pandemic hit various parts of the globe and as a result, factories overseas shut down. When production began to ramp up, we see a significant increase in cargo volume. We are seeing about a 30% increase in our cargo activity year over year says an article on CBS News.
Supply-chain crisis
As the pandemic hit various parts of the globe, factories overseas shut down. When production began to ramp up, then saw a significant increase in cargo volume. We are all seeing about a 30% increase in our cargo activity year over year.
The underlying cause
According to Yosi Sheffi, the director of MIT’s Center for Transportation and Logistics, “The cause of this is a huge increase in demand. People did not spend during the pandemic. And then the government help came; trillions of dollars went to households. So, they order stuff. They order more and more stuff. And the whole global markets weren’t ready for this.”
Truck transportation
“I think our drivers are heroes,” said Mark Rourke is president and CEO of Schneider, the country’s third-largest trucking and logistics company. “They didn’t have a work-from-home option, right? And so, the country needed food, the country needed cleaning supplies, the country needed medicine. And they really kept this whole country moving.”
Labor shortage
But the national labor shortage plays a role in the supply-chain crisis, too, especially when it comes to truck drivers. A huge wave of stuff coming into the country, a huge wave of people who want to buy it, and a hopelessly swamped transportation system that wasn’t ready for either one.
Light at the end of the tunnel
But MIT’s Yosi Sheffi thinks that there may be light at the end of the tunnel. Asked when things will be normal again, he replied, “I would say, without government intervention, it will be at the end of the second quarter next year. But the prices will still be high.
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Source: CBS News
