This before and after graphic is featured on an agricultural product web site along with a statement blaming labor negotiations for congestion. No one disputes that congestion is a problem. But research and industry leaders continually reinforce the fact that congestion is rooted not in labor, but in shifting global shipping trends and industry decisions that were a long time in the making.
North American ports would most likely be dealing with congestion issues today even without the onslaught of mega-ships, because growing container volumes are taxing the port and intermodal infrastructure, the president and CEO of the Americas for Hyundai Merchant Marine said Tuesday.
“Congestion was inevitable,” David Arsenault told the Propeller Club of Los Angeles-Long Beach.
The port and shipping industry as far back as 2002 knew that marine terminals, intermodal rail connectors, roadways and truck capacity were beginning to stress under growing imports from China. “China could pitch more than we could catch,” Arsenault said.
Industry experts at the time said that if the double-digit growth rates continued, port congestion would take place throughout North America starting in about 2009. Instead, the Great Recession hit, and volumes declined.
However, with 3 to 5 percent growth each year since the recession, volumes are now back to the level they were at in 2006-07, and the very same infrastructure inadequacies are being exposed, he said.
Note: The full article is behind the JOC paywall. However, the report lists vessel sharing agreements, the chassis crisis, drayage capacity problems, intermodal complexity problems, high annual growth in container volume as the causes of congestion, with megaships listed as the ‘final blow.’ You can contact us at longshore news at gmail.com for more documentation on the causes of congestion.