Port congestion is worsening. Local officials and logistic executives are looking for ways to relieve it.
On Friday, the City of Long Beach stated that additional container stacking will be temporarily permitted.
After a three-hour boat tour through the port, a logistics CEO suggested that the policy be adopted.
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Logistics leaders and local officials seek solutions to the supply chain crisis in America as US shipping ports become increasingly congested.
On Friday, the City of Long Beach, California announced that it would temporarily allow additional container stacking in order to alleviate port congestion.
After sharing his experiences from a three hour boat tour of Long Beach's overloaded freight complex, Ryan Peterson, CEO at Flexport, made the announcement.
Peterson, who commented on the fact that Long Beach port operations were at a standstill Friday due to "containers piling-up in the terminal yard" because of lack of space, posted a long Twitter thread. He stressed the urgency of the situation, and called for immediate action.
Peterson tweeted, "It seems like everyone now agrees to that the bottleneck in container terminal yard space" "The terminals are just overflowing with containers which means that they don't have the space to accept new containers from land or ships. It's a real traffic jam."
The temporary order allows up to four containers per person to be stacked simultaneously by the City of Long Beach. This is in addition to the standard two. If permission is given by the fire prevention department of the city, five containers may be stacked in certain cases.
"It was recently brought to our attention that the Municipal Code has zoning provisions that limit shipping container storage. This could be relaxed for a brief time and could help during this national crisis," Long Beach stated in a statement.
Large containers at Long Beach's commercial dock. Michael Wells/Getty Images
The ports of Long Beach, California and Los Angeles are in near paralysis. This is despite workers being granted permission by Biden Administration to load ships for 24 hours a day. According to the Marine Exchange, there were 169 boats in the ports this week, while others waited up to 13 days for their unloading.
Los Angeles truckers have left shipping containers lining residential streets due to a lack of space. The White House is considering bringing in the National Guard to unload shipping containers in Southern California. This will help to alleviate the shortage of truck drivers.
Peterson tweeted that the supply-chain crisis had become "a negative feedback cycle that is rapidly cycling outof control" and that it would "destroy the global economy if it continues unabated."
We don't have to come up with the best ideas. He wrote that we need to try ALL of the ideas.
