At the start of the pandemic, global shipments inevitably either slowed down or stopped completely. As demand has continued to build over the last 12 months, this situation has only worsened with time, impacting international assignments and organizations’ mobility programs. Here, we discuss the specific household goods challenges around the world, as well as key recommendations that organizations can follow to help reduce the impact shipment delays have on mobility programs.
Many shipping companies have reduced the number of departures out of ports. In some instances, weekly routes have been reduced to twice-weekly or even monthly, dependent on demand. Productivity at the ports themselves has also decreased as the number of dockworkers has been reduced to adhere to social distancing restrictions. At Cartus, we have seen significant delays across U.S. West Coast ports with multiple container vessels unable to offload and, in some cases, wait times for port entry for unloading have been up to 20 days.
APAC is another region where we are seeing especially long delays. The rise in online shopping by global consumers (and the fact many items purchased online originate from Asia) may have contributed to these regional delays. APAC shipments are also being hindered by a significant imbalance between a surplus of empty containers located in Western regions, without the need to return them to ports in APAC who desperately need them. To relieve the imbalance, some shipping companies have begun to create “blank sailings,” which means one in every four containers sent is empty.
The reduction of shipments and imbalance of containers has caused freight rates to rise, especially in APAC. The increased cost in sea freight rates has meant rising demand for air transport, thus elevating air rates, too. More recently, EMEA has begun to experience a shortage in trucks collecting shipments from ports, which in turn has led to an increase in trucking rates within the region.
Download our Mobility Supply Chain Guide to find out the specific challenges impacting the wider industry, what Cartus is doing to mitigate them, and key recommendations to help companies reduce the impact these challenges have on their relocation programs. Our guide looks specifically at:
Look out for more blogs over the coming weeks, which will deep-dive into specific areas of supply chain and the innovative solutions we are providing to help clients navigate the current challenges. Read our previous posts:
Cartus will continue to work closely with our supplier partners to ensure we minimize the impact this situation may have on our clients and their relocating employees.
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