US Port Strike

September 30, 2024

Port workers from the entire East Coast to the Gulf of Mexico are expected to strike tomorrow at 12:01 AM EST. There is a slim chance that the port workers and operators will arrive at a deal to avoid this anticipated East Coast port strike.

This strike will significantly impact the supply chain and cause quite a bit of economic chaos, with some reporting the impact on the US economy as much as $5 billion daily. Should this go on any length of time, all will feel it and, of course, will be quite the disruption for moving household goods worldwide. There is no indication of how long this strike might last, but it will be a while, as both sides are very far apart in making a deal.

Since our last report on this, we have looked at all options and will evaluate each move on a case-by-case basis.

For shipments on the water and inbound to the impact ports, we are at the mercy of the shipping lines and how they choose to re-route their vessels. We want to get these shipments routed through Canada. However, we expect this route and the West Coast to become quite congested with the additional volumes. If they decide to go to the West Coast, there will be high surcharges, added transportation costs to get the containers from the West Coast to the East Coast, and much longer transit times. It would be easy to expect three weeks added to the transit time, if not more. While Canada will bring additional charges and heavy delays, we feel it will be the better option, especially for shipments destined for the eastern side of the United States.

Karlibow stopped sending containers to the port last week for US outbound shipment, and we are looking at alternatives. In most cases, we recommend storing the goods at the origin until the port strikes are over or using air freight for smaller shipments. We are unable to route outbound shipments via Canada.

With the global shipping crisis from a couple of years back, we are very much at the mercy of the shipping lines and ports. The best we can do is make educated guesses about the best course of action for each shipment. Since 2020, the shipping lines have lost any sense of good customer service and, at the same time, made record profits between then and now. In the last two weeks, many have announced surcharges of $1500 to $2000 USD starting tomorrow, despite not knowing what will happen.

Our team is working hard to get information from here and worldwide, relying heavily on getting information from our overseas partners who book the shipments inbound to the US and, of course, our shipping team and those who support us.

We will report back later this week with any updates. Naturally, we have let our clients and transferees know if their shipment is being impacted. </p)

Thank you for reading, and once again, your questions and feedback are appreciated!