It’s not just the UK that suffers from supply chain issues. In the United States, the crisis could last until the summer | US News

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The backlog of cargo ships at America’s busiest port complex – the images of which have come to define the global supply chain crisis – is not expected to return to normal until next summer.

The executive director of the Port of Long Beach in California said plans to move to 24/7 operations, pushed by President Joe Biden this week, will improve the crisis in the near term, but logistics have overall need to be rethought.

Long Beach and the nearby port of Los Angeles are the two busiest in the United States – and for weeks now container ships, often up to 70 at a time, have been forced to wait at anchor offshore for a berth.

Image: Mario Cordero met with the US president to find ways to clear the backlog

The surge in post-pandemic trade combined with labor shortages has created bottlenecks in major logistics hubs around the world and raised concerns about further product shortages.

Mario Cordero, who met Mr Biden this week as the White House looked for ways to clear the backlog, told Sky News: “Everyone agrees we are in crisis, everyone agrees that we need of a solution, so the question is, what are the short long term solutions, what are the long term solutions?

“What is important is that we cannot be in this situation the next time there is an unforeseeable event.”

Unsurprisingly, many of the issues facing the supply chain industry in the United States are the same as those faced in the United Kingdom and Europe. There is a shortage of truckers and delays caused by traffic jams are costly.

At a truck stop near the port of Long Beach, a truck driver said, “Sometimes some drivers get angry, I understand that because I’m one of them. We try to do our job the best we can. but we are wasting too much time inside, like five or six hours waiting for a load. “

Image: Truck drivers have to wait twice as long as usual to pick up a load at the port of Long Beach

That’s double the time they would usually wait, he said, and that can make the difference between drivers doing one load or multiple loads a day.

As the holiday season approaches, businesses and customers are worried about the possibility of Christmas shortages.

“Order, order, order,” is how Lisa McHenry, who runs the Knock Knock toy and gift shop in Seal Beach, says she approached the crisis.

“Order early and order deep because you don’t know if some items are not going to arrive, then you just order a lot and just hope something happens.”

Image: Bottlenecks have been created in major logistics centers around the world

Phone calls haven’t stopped from these elusive toy hunters. “It is floating on a ship somewhere,” she told an interlocutor. “The Tooth Fairy will have to leave an IOU.”

Some large US retailers have considered chartering their own container ships that could dock and unload at smaller ports. Guaranteeing their supplies would however have a cost and this is likely to be passed on to their customers.

This week, Mr Biden outlined the 24/7 operations at major ports as a first step in dealing with the crisis. But he added: “We also need the rest of the private sector chain to step up.”

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