Supply chain risks are exploding. Just look at the news, and you'll see a potential UPS strike, a Canadian port strike, potential hurricanes (Hawaii, Florida), China stirring up potential conflict with China, the Crimean bridge attack, and much more.
A UPS strike was averted on the last day of the quarter, but it still hangs in the balance as the two sides are not on the same page! The head of the union said an imminent strike was likely when a counterproposal fell flat. Now that a new counterproposal was submitted, the imminent strike was called off with a new date set within a week.
On a recent trip to Europe, I was fortunate to combine work with pleasure. Finland is diverse from Helsinki to the arctic circle, and we were thrilled to gain picturesque views of the northern lights. I was surprised there are multiple cruise ships that go from Helsinki to Estonia each day because the people and countries are interconnected.
According to PMSA (Pacific Merchant Shipping Association), the five big West Coast ports have lost volume - 702,083 fewer loads and empties were handled in January and February 2023 than in the same period pre-pandemic in 2019. This equates to close to a 16% reduction. Specifically, the Port of Long Beach was off by 18.7% from January 2019 [...]
Transportation has been in chaos since the pandemic. It started with logjams at the ports that persisted for multiple years, continued with atypical events such as the ship getting stuck in the Suez Canal and truckers blocking the border of US and Canada, and continues to rage on with labor shortages across the board in rail, trucking, and all transportation sectors.
There has been a lot of conversation about railroads lately. Why should we be concerned about keeping the railroads moving?
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she's putting everything on track for an early vote to quickly send the bill to the Senate and have the legislation approved before the Dec. 9 rail strike deadline.
In this episode of Supply Chain Chats, Lisa Anderson talks about impacts of inflation and supply chain disruption in the global supply chain. She uses fertilizer as an example and talks through how inflation and supply chain disruptions are interrelated and walks through the increase in the price of oil and gas to China’s decision to stop exporting to the Russia-Ukraine war and the potential rail strike. [...]
"Unfortunately, I just don't see anything in the next year or two that's going to lessen the number of disruptions," says Lisa Anderson, a supply chain expert and president of California-based LMA Consulting Group.
Lisa Anderson, a supply chain expert and President of California-based LMA Consulting Group comments that she just doesn’t see anything in the next year or two that’s going to decrease the number of disruptions.
