Inbound Logistics | January 2022

DIALOG @ILMagazine [ INSIGHT ]

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MUNCH ON THIS

IN THE HEADLINES “Supply chain” went from relative obscurity to an everyday term due to global delays. When it works well, it’s not a concern or trending topic. It’s fantastic people are more aware of the industry, and I look forward to the day supply chain doesn’t need to be a top headline. -Lindsey Shellman Chief Commercial Officer, Centerboard

Empty produce shelves at Stop & Shop in Orangeburg, New York, grab shoppers’ attention on January 16, 2022.

“receiving” but when we get there it has changed (due to forwarder, shipper, ship line, or port) and we have to leave with the load and take it back someplace to hold it. • The rebooking process is supposed to take a few hours—but it takes days, and some export loads are loaded and sitting in containers on chassis for 4+ weeks because of inefciencies in rebooking and moving targets of the ship line. • Sometimes a vessel “opens up for receiving” in the computer in the middle of the morning, and also the last day to receive (cutoff) is the same day. So it’s a sudden scramble to get all loads in; all the trucks are sitting in the same areas in the ports waiting for cranes. There isn’t much the Department of Transportation/Washington, D.C. can do to x these things except get out of the way by suspending any regulations that can be suspended without causing immediate harm. —Danny R. Schnautz Clark Freight Lines Via email, November 17, 2021

TRUCKER PERSPECTIVE View from the Port of Houston

Re. Good Question: How would you summarize the supply chain in 2021 in ve words? bit.ly/GQ_SCin5words Transport: Quick Tips. “How to keep freight moving when it seems like the whole world is conspiring to slow it down.” Frank Mullens @FrankMullens Tequila lime grilled chicken and veggie bowl with @ILMagazine’s Expedited

I see all kinds of bureaucracy in transportation these days that limits our effectiveness. We have warehouses scheduling the arrival of empty containers for export so we have one day to get the empty there. If that day is missed (which could be 7 days before cargo cutoff back at the vessel) the warehouse tells the shipper that the cargo has to roll to another vessel. This starts the ongoing avalanche of emails to reset and possibly rebook to another shipping line. For decades there has been a small window to drop empties on; this “one day” is detrimental to overcoming the daily challenges in the import/ export market. At the Port of Houston, we have an incredible amount of inefciency on drayage these days. Here are the facts as they exist today from the trucker experience: • Sometimes we show up with a load for a vessel that the computer shows

Gloom, despair, agony on me.

—Brian C. Gaffney Su pply Chain Specialist Natural Fiber Welding

There is no reset button. Historically high container shipping rates, meet historically low service levels. While logistics networks could have performed better in 2021, things couldn’t have gotten much worse. Shippers and logistics service providers need to take a hard look at the processes and ow of information between supply chain partners. —Matt Gunn VP Solutions Marketing, Slync.io

20 Inbound Logistics • January 2022