Global Pandemic: Ongoing Impact on Household Goods Shipments

At the start of the pandemic, global shipments inevitably either slowed down or stopped completely. As demand continued to build over the last 12 months, this situation has only become worse with time, impacting international assignments and organizations’ mobility programs. Here, we discuss the specific household goods challenges, as well as key recommendations that organizations can follow to help reduce the impact shipment delays have on relocation 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 a significant delay across U.S. West Coast ports with multiple container vessels unable to offload.

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.