Bottle Neck at Terminal island

For John, BLUF:  Our economy is built upon the idea of just in time delivery.  It saves lots of money, but it depends upon things, and people, showing up on time.  Now it is breaking down.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Driving a hard bargain: Haulage firms offer $100,000 salaries and $15,000 bonuses to lure 80,000 truckers and ease supply crisis as empty shipping containers are dumped in streets because California port is full

Here is the sub-headline:

• Trucking companies are offering lucrative incentives to attract more Americans to the trucking industry, where 80,000 jobs need to be filled this year
• One company is offering a $15,000 signup bonus, while others promise six-figure salaries
• But near the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, transportation execs say the problem isn't a lack of drivers - it's mass congestion caused by empty containers
• Steamships are refusing to take back empty containers, and charging trucking companies a per diem to store them
• That is driving some small businesses to close as the logistical situation at the ports worsens
• Head of the California Trucking Association has called for a state of emergency to be imposed
• It all ties into the supply chain chaos that's left cargo ships queueing for weeks to unload goods to trucking companies, which are unable to efficiently move them

From The Daily Mail, by Reporter Michelle Thompson, 21 October 2021, 12:28 EDT.

Here is the lede plus four:

Haulage companies are offering six-figure salaries and $15,000 sign-on bonuses while struggling to attract 80,000 new drivers who are needed to relieve the nation’s supply crisis.

But industry experts said more drivers won’t alleviate the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach backlog, where an empty shipping container fiasco is preventing trucks from moving product to consumers.

Facing an exodus of 600,000 retiring truckers by 2028, the transportation industry is desperate to recruit more people and estimates that 80,000 new hires are needed this year to offset attrition and clear a backed-up supply chain.

‘I can tell you that pretty much every single one of our members – no matter what part of the industry they’re in – is looking for drivers,’ Chris Shimoda, senior vice president of government affairs at the California Trucking Association, told DailyMail.com.

‘They are raising pay across the board, introducing things like signing and retention bonuses, trying to provide more local driving opportunities so that the drivers can be home with their families at night, but it's been a real struggle for several years.’

Some may think this is goinhg to just work itself out, over time.  However, how much time?  I think we can see the Christmas Season going down the tubes.

Maybe not, but the pain of it would be strong.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff