By Matthew Allen, Vice President, State Government Affairs
By Tracey Chow, Federal Government Affairs Specialist
The Story
Problems at the Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland are stacking up, and the transportation and logistics bottleneck continues to get worse.
Context please.
The Southern California ports account for 40 percent of all shipping containers entering the United States. As of late October 2021, it was reported that a record-breaking 100 ships were waiting to dock and unload. In pre-pandemic times, the average number of vessels idling would be less than 20.
What’s happening?
Since late 2020, U.S. agricultural exporters have faced extreme challenges getting products out to overseas markets, including record-breaking congestion and delays at ports, inaccurate or late notice of arrival/departure and cargo loading times, excessive financial penalties and other fees, and skyrocketing freight rate costs.