reply Record congestion for container ships at US ports

The number of container ships jammed at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach reached a record high of 62, US media reported Thursday.The New York Post reported that the increase in the number of cargo ships, labor shortages and COVID-19 measures have slowed the port's work efficiency.The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach account for about a third of U.S. imports each year, according to the report.Cargo ships are also piling up at other U.S. ports, Bloomberg news reported. It now takes longer to move containers from ships to trucks or cars. A shortage of truck drivers exacerbates the problem.Fedex is rerouting more than 600,000 packages a day to cope with a labor shortage, the Daily Mail reported. Reggie Subramaniam, fedex's chief operating officer, said this week that understaffing had led to "widespread inefficiencies" at the company.Major ports like Portland, Ore., are operating at 65 percent to "handle normal cargo volumes," Subramaniam said. The ports had to divert about 25 percent of their parcels, Fox Business News reported.Mr. Subramaniam said parcel diversions made the company more inefficient and drove up operating costs.Mike Lenz, fedex's chief financial officer, said the problems were likely to persist through the rest of the year.Labor shortages not only slow the flow of goods, but also affect the availability of goods to stores across America.Shops are facing supply chain chaos, Labour shortages, inflation and the run-up to Christmas, threatening shortages of appliances, trainers, cars and toilet paper, the Daily Mail reported.Costco said Wednesday it has resumed restrictions on purchases of toilet paper, blotting paper and bottled water.A shortage of containers also afflicts American manufacturers. Nike says it is having trouble finding enough containers to ship goods back from overseas. Figures provided by the Daily Mail show that the price of a freight container has risen from less than $2,000 two years ago to $25,000 this year.Nike is doubling the time it takes to ship goods from Factories in Asia to the U.S. because of labor and container shortages, congested ports and other factors.