CGTN America Release: Supply Chain Crunch at Los Angeles Port

Containers are unloaded from a ship at the Ports of Los Angeles. /CFP

WASHINGTON (PRWEB) October 25, 2021

CGTN America releases “Supply Chain Crunch at Los Angeles Port”

CGTN America takes viewers inside the largest port in the United States. It’s a place where dozens of packed ships have been waiting weeks to unload.

The Executive Director of the Port of Los Angeles, Gene Seroka, says: “The quickest route from Asia to the United States and interior points is through Los Angeles. And that’s what everyone is trying to maximize at this point in time. But it’s like taking 10 lanes of freeway traffic and squeezing them into five.”

The U.S. government is trying to get all shipping lanes open by making the port a 24/7 operation.

U.S. President Joe Biden announced, “The port of Los Angeles will open over 60 extra hours a week. In total, that will almost double the number of hours that the port is open for business, from earlier this year. That means an increase in the hours for workers to be moving cargo off ships and to trucks and railroads cars, to get to their destination.”

The story points out the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted workers in key transportation sectors and that millions of Americans quit their jobs across the country.

The Head of Strategy at Cargomatic, Weston LaBar, says, “The marine terminal operators and organized labor… will have to work together to figure out what a 24/7 port looks like. There’s contractual (and shift) issues… Do we have enough labor resources? These are all things that are going to have to be figured out.”

The congestion at the Port of Los Angeles has been an on-going issue since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, when its capacity was significantly reduced. The story looks at the impact on the supply chain crisis between big and small retailers.

“This is certainly going to impact the Mom and Pop shops. They don’t have the ability to get goods in. A lot of these smaller publishers and stores are holding inventory in China, trying to wait out the freight to see if it gets cheaper. And I don’t think this is going away for at least two years,” says Carly McGinnis of Exploding Kittens, Inc.

However, there is a silver lining to the story. More people may be forced to buy locally and support small businesses, which could reduce the carbon footprint.

The Port of Los Angeles is the largest container port in the United States and it receives the most goods from China.

(REPORTED BY EDIZ TIYANSAN)

Click here for more about all “Supply Chain Crunch at Los Angeles Port” and to view the report: https://newsus.cgtn.com/news/2021-10-22/Biden-announces-extended-hours-as-Los-Angeles-port-fills-up-14yoz0wHZ2E/index.html

This material is distributed by MediaLinks TV, LLC on behalf of CCTV. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.

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