21 Apr Customer Advisory
This is an update on the current situation regarding outbound and inbound space, equipment and rates for your exports and imports.
The situation has reached critical levels. Covid-19 manpower reductions at ports and airports, lack of space by ocean and by air due to record shipping demand and carrier schedule reductions, port and rail congestion in the USA, trucker shortages in the USA and normal issues such as holidays and weather have all contributed in the last 14 months to a massive problem.
Rates out bound and inbound (particularly from China) are at record high levels never seen before…. not even during war time. Ocean containers from China are in the $12,000 per container price range to the Midwestern USA double their normal rate levels. Airfreight inbound rates from China are in the $8.00-$12.00 per kg range a full 125% higher than normal in some cases. Rates to and from all global destinations/origins are high and seem to keep rising.
Please understand we are doing everything we can to look at new routings, creative options, faster transit times and trying to manage the ever- increasing rates. Delivery times will be estimated but are likely to vary dramatically. Equipment availability and space are very low everywhere in the world.
We will keep you informed, but we expect this to be the conditions well into the Fall of 2021 and you should expect and plan for longer lead times and higher prices. Please call or e-mail us to get more specifics.
We do have some expedited service options. They are expensive and availability is limited every week, but charters and terminating shipments at ports and then trucking freight to our customers are all possible options. They come at premium pricing even above the already very high prices in the market today.