Global Transport Systems Collapse! By James Reed
My brothers at this blog have been covering the global transport system collapse. That is not our phrase but one being used by the mainstream media now. It is a product of the Covid shutdown of economies, leading to supermarket shelves in the US and UK being emptied as supermarkets can’t re-supply quick enough. This crisis has not hit Australia yet, but if things do not improve overseas, be sure that we will cop it too. Dare I say: get ready each shop. Me, I get toilet paper whenever I am let out of my Melbourne cell to shop, or to get air. No, we are not allowed air, that is controlled here.
“A coalition of unions that represent shipping workers around the world has warned of an imminent 'global transport systems collapse' due to lingering impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic.
In an open letter on Wednesday, the workers groups warned that fragmented and inconsistent pandemic restrictions around the world have thrown global shipping into chaos.
The warning comes as supply-chain backlogs leave scores of cargo ships idling outside US ports, exacerbating shortages caused by a national truck driver shortage that threatens to derail the Christmas shopping season.
'We are witnessing unprecedented disruptions and global delays and shortages on essential goods including electronics, food, fuel and medical supplies,' the shipping workers warned.
Cargo ship congestion continues at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach as seen here from the Port of LA/Marine Exchange in San Pedro earlier this month.
Trucks are parked in Dover, whilst the Port remains closed, in Kent, England, Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2020. Trucks waiting to get out of Britain backed up for miles due to pandemic restrictions.
'The impact of nearly two years’ worth of strain, placed particularly upon maritime and road transport workers, but also impacting air crews, is now being seen,' the group said. 'Their continued mistreatment is adding pressure on an already crumbling global supply chain.'
'At the peak of the crew change crisis 400,000 seafarers were unable to leave their ships, with some seafarers working for as long as 18 months over their initial contracts,' the letter said.
'Flights have been restricted and aviation workers have faced the inconsistency of border, travel, restrictions, and vaccine restrictions/requirements,' it added.
'Additional and systemic stopping at road borders has meant truck drivers have been forced to wait, sometimes weeks, before being able to complete their journeys and return home,' the workers said.
The groups called on governments to grant freedom of movement for transport workers and prioritize them for vaccinations.
The letter was signed by the union bosses of IRU, the world road transport organization; IATA, the International Air Transport Association; ICS, the International Chamber of Shipping; and ITF, the International Transport Workers’ Federation.
Meanwhile, US retailers have warned of Christmas shopping chaos as backlogs in supply chains mean there are over 70 container ships queueing off the coast of California and another 60 off New York.
Lines off the coast of Los Angeles are expected to cause shortages across the country - not just in California - into the festive season as the port complex processes 40 per cent of the all containers arriving in the US.
Traffic-jams at ports, which serve as the main entry point for cargo coming from China , have reached their longest since the start of the pandemic and have steadily worsened over the past two months.
Nike has said it is struggling to find enough shipping containers to deliver its merchandise from overseas.
Meanwhile General Motors said it would cut production at its plants in Indiana, Missouri and Tennessee this month because of the dearth of microchips. Ford Motor is also reducing truck production.
'There are not the people in place to move the containers and the chassis where they need to go. So you've got a lot of stuff piling up at the ports and at the warehouses. When that happens, the harder it is to get the stuff that is ready to move,' John Drake, VP of Supply Chain Strategy for the US Chamber of Commerce told CBS .
And the traffic-jam at the ports, which serve as the main entry point for goods coming from China, has already directly impacted the prices for artificial Christmas trees.
Balsam Hill, an artificial tree company based in California, is selling its four-and-a-half-foot tall Grand Canyon Cedar Tree for $499 this year. That is $199 more than the same tree cost in 2020 - a two-thirds increase in price in just 12 months.
'We've never raised prices anywhere close to that in our history and will make way less money,' Balsam Hill CEO Mac Harman told The Wall Street Journal.
'For the first time ever for us, the catalog was out, and we didn't have any products to sell,' Harman added.
Our shipments didn't arrive on time. We're still trying to figure out exactly where the products are. Are they still on the water or stuck in ports? If this keeps happening, we could go out of business.'
And the enormous demand does not appear to be showing any signs of slowing down in the near future, according to analysts who have warned issues with supply chains and shortages could last well into 2023.
It comes as Costco said it would rent three container ships to import products from Asia to the US and Canada in a bid to ease supply chain woes after it was forced to reinstate limits on purchases of toilet paper, paper towels and bottle water last week.
The port of Long Beach said it was testing out a 24/7 pilot program to expand the hours for cargo pickup through the night when there is less traffic in the region, allowing for speedier delivers. And FedEx said it was rerouting more than 600,000 packages per day as it scrambles to cope with the labor shortage plaguing businesses throughout the US.”
“Joint open letter – Transport heads call on world leaders to secure global supply chains
29 September 2021
Since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the maritime, road and aviation industries have called loudly and clearly on governments to ensure the free movement of transport workers and to end travel bans and other restrictions that have had an enormously detrimental impact on their wellbeing and safety. Transport workers keep the world running and are vital for the free movement of products, including vaccines and PPE, but have been continually failed by governments and taken for granted by their officials.
Our calls have been consistent and clear: freedom of movement for transport workers, for governments to use protocols that have been endorsed by international bodies for each sector and to prioritise transport workers for vaccinations as called for in the World Health Organization’s SAGE Roadmap for Prioritizing Uses of COVID-19 Vaccines in the Context of Limited Supply.
Heads of government have failed to listen, to end the blame-shifting within and between governments and take the decisive and coordinated action needed to resolve this crisis.
This is why IRU, the world road transport organisation, IATA, the International Air Transport Association, ICS, the International Chamber of Shipping, and ITF, the International Transport Workers’ Federation, have come together to make an urgent plea to the world’s heads of government and the United Nations Agencies to remove restrictions hampering the free movement of transport workers, and guarantee and facilitate their free and safe movement.
Our collective industries account for more than $20 trillion of world trade annually, and represent 65 million global transport workers, and over 3.5 million road freight and airline companies, as well as more than 80% of the world merchant shipping fleet. Seafarers, air crew and drivers must be able to continue to do their jobs, and cross borders, to keep supply chains moving. We ask heads of government to urgently take the leadership that is required to bring an end to the fragmented travel rules and restrictions that have severely impacted the global supply chain and put at risk the health and wellbeing of our international transport workforce. We also need the same urgent leadership to increase global vaccine supply by all means at our disposal, in order to expedite the recovery of our industries.
We ask that our transport workers are given priority to receive WHO recognised vaccines and heads of government work together to create globally harmonised, digital, mutually recognised vaccination certificate and processes for demonstrating health credentials (including vaccination status and COVID-19 test results), which are paramount to ensure transport workers can cross international borders.
We also call on the WHO to take our message to health ministries. Despite early engagement at the outset of the pandemic and issuance of guidance, health and transport ministries have not utilised it, resulting in the situation we face today. We need the WHO and governments to work together to ensure this guidance is accepted and followed.
The impact of nearly two years’ worth of strain, placed particularly upon maritime and road transport workers, but also impacting air crews, is now being seen. Their continued mistreatment is adding pressure on an already crumbling global supply chain. We are witnessing unprecedented disruptions and global delays and shortages on essential goods including electronics, food, fuel and medical supplies. Consumer demand is rising and the delays look set to worsen ahead of Christmas and continue into 2022.
We have all continued to keep global trade flowing throughout the pandemic, but it has taken a human toll. At the peak of the crew change crisis 400,000 seafarers were unable to leave their ships, with some seafarers working for as long as 18 months over their initial contracts. Flights have been restricted and aviation workers have faced the inconsistency of border, travel, restrictions, and vaccine restrictions/requirements. Additional and systemic stopping at road borders has meant truck drivers have been forced to wait, sometimes weeks, before being able to complete their journeys and return home.
It is of great concern that we are also seeing shortages of workers and expect more to leave our industries as a result of the poor treatment they have faced during the pandemic, putting the supply chain under greater threat.
In view of the vital role that transport workers have played during the pandemic and continue to play during the ongoing supply chain crisis, we request, as a matter of urgency, a meeting with WHO and the ILO at the highest level to identify solutions before global transport systems collapse. We also ask that WHO and the ILO raise this at the UN General Assembly and call on heads of government to take meaningful and swift action to resolve this crisis now.”
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