Container haulage under unprecedented pressure
The transport of containers from arrival ports is facing unprecedented challenges, and while these are great, we believe they must be overcome, because if no action is taken, some importers may face very significant additional charges, with no guarantee of delivery.
The HGV driver shortage, which triggered the current fuel crisis, has been gathering pace over the last two decades, but the recent loss of many experienced HGV drivers to roles outside the freight sector has removed swathes of capacity from the container haulage sector, which is already struggling to deal with inefficient port operations and the lowest vessel schedule reliability in history.
Carrier (liner) haulage is usually a cost-effective option, as it does not not attract a load-on load-off (LoLo) charge. However, the current market situation, haulier cancellations, delays with deliveries and collections and the challenge of matching resource with unpredictable vessel schedules, means that 30% to 40% of haulage moves are failing and shipping lines have very few – if any – bookings until the middle of October or later in November.
Despite the lines extending their haulage booking time from one week to over a month, they are not waiving port storage and demurrage charges, which will be charged in full at each carrier’s tariff and means shippers will be liable to these charges, which may be considerable.
For the 30-40% of failed delivery bookings, some lines are providing additional free time, of between four and seven days, but many have offered no additional free time and only one line will offer free time up to the point of re-booking.
Merchant haulage may attract modest additional costs, to confirm haulage and absorb LoLo costs, but it does offer the opportunity to avoid storage and demurrage charges and it is a more flexible alternative, which is particularly critical given the increasing incidences of carrier and merchant transport bookings being cancelled, often without notice.
We are leveraging every haulier relationship and partnership, to help our shippers and would recommend flexibility on delivery windows, with bookings for afternoon collections and deliveries more likely to succeed.
Regular delivery forecasts mean that we can book delivery slots in advance of vessel arrivals, which increases the possibility of achieving container deliveries in line with your expectations.
Please contact your account manager, so we can review your situation and implement the most effective solutions, to protect your supply chain arrivals.
