The Cargo Problem

In Los Angeles California cargo ships are having a problem with shipping out. They are being delayed due to not having enough people to deliver the cargo to the places they need to be. This is because of the pandemic and things just aren’t moving fast enough. There are an estimated 200,00 cargo containers that need to be transported to the US. Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach started the gridlock since the global supply change struggles to meet consumer needs of a pandemic, shortage of cargo ships, and lack of workers willing to drive trucks or handle inventory. “We are moving as fast as possible,” Mr. Seroka said. It is also said that, “More than 60 container ships were anchored in San Pedro Bay on Thursday, waiting at the Southern California port complex.” This could mean that it will take even longer than expected.

There are people that have spoken up about how they feel about the cargo ships being delayed. Many truck drivers and terminal operators have said that “it isn’t worth the extra extensions if the cargo is not going 24/7.” At this rate, goods that have not even left China will not be able to come to America until after Christmas and perhaps even longer. Biden has stated that the ports will be open 24 hours a day so the shipments will be able to take place all day and night. This could help with moving the cargo onto ships which will help them get to America faster. A pilot program launched last month to fully functionally operate at 6 am - 5 pm and 6 pm - 3 am pst. but it will be closed on Sundays. The push to expand the ports is not going to be as easy as the government wants to make it seem.

People do not realize how this is not only affecting the companies but it is affecting the workers and day to day people. 2020 and 2021 have been horrifying years for everyone. Covid happened and the world was just surrounded by death. People were ordered to stay in their houses and now people are scared to come out and do their jobs since they were laid off for so long. Speaking of people being laid off, those same people are the ones who need to find other jobs that pay the same or around the same as their old jobs.

Since some companies unfortunately shut down once Covid started up it has been hard to get back into the job searching idea of things. The companies that shut down include J.Crew, J.C Penny, Hertz, Virgin Atlantic and more. The list could go on and on. There have been many other companies that have shut down but it has also made other companies try to do better than those that have failed. Most companies closed due to not having any customers. “Low or non-existent consumer demand, reduced spending and stay-at-home orders crushed many businesses,” finance.yahoo.com reveals to the media.

Speaking of the media, people are saying to just get more ships so they can all deliver to where they need to be delivered. Though that would be a nice thing to do, there is a big problem with that as well. They might not be able to get the ships and people to bring out all the cargo containers from the ships. Why don’t they just make more ships and get more workers at the cargo stations? It can’t be that hard, right? Well, wrong. Making ships requires time, effort, and people to do it. They would also need people that are willing to put all the cargo ships and take out all the cargo containers out and put them onto trucks. Most people don’t want to do that because it is just way too much work. I don’t blame them for that though, it would help but you can’t force people to do what they do not want to do. Which is why people that do want to do the job should do it. Not only for their own good but for the people of the US.

I talked to someone that has a lot of experience truck driving and he had some things to say about what they should do. Jason Cuyno has been a truck driver for twelve years. “They should put as much cargo as they can in some trucks and allow the truck drivers to do their jobs,'' Cuyno said when asked what they should do. He also added, “they should try their hardest to get them to the retailers, just so they don’t have to worry about those boxes and containers that the cargo businesses are so worried about.” He also gave some insight that it would be heavy work on the truck drivers and the government should help out with that. It is hard for truckers and it’s stressful for them if they are the ones delivering the cargo.

Since this issue is holding up all of the things people can buy, it will also be bad for our economy. Companies need money to keep going which is why it is important to get these items to the retailers. When the people that are buying these products aren’t getting them, they are left in confusion since they are not getting their packages and such. People are also very angry at the government for letting it get this bad. Some people have their lists of things they would like to get so it is more than stressful and concerning.

The pandemic has shown a weakness that people of this generation have never seen before. It is slowing down the supply changing, ships, cargo containers, and much more. It is also keeping workers away hence why there is a long wait for more items to come into stock. The holidays are approaching fast and the way that things are going now is going to lead to everyone having a late christmas. As stated before, People are furious over this since they need to buy their families gifts for Christmas. It is also going to be difficult for them to get the food they need for the holidays.