Shippers Hurt by Trucking Turmoils

Evergreen Shipping Agency (America) Corp. has issued a statement informing their clients that their cargo movements have been affected by truck capacity issues brought on by a number of factors such as stricter regulations, driver shortages and infrastructure issues.

Evergreen goes on to say that every ocean carrier is being impacted by the truck shortages. This is a situation that has been growing in the recent past year and it is out of shippers’ direct control. Simply put, there is more cargo than there are available drayage resources.

Evergreen tries to identify reasons behind the growing problem:

• Driver shortages and fewer drivers entering the job pool. Truck drivers capable of handling hazardous and overweight shipments are especially impacted;
• Ocean terminal, rail depot congestion and infrastructure issues on both coasts limit the number of moves a driver can accomplish in one day. This problem also causes a cascade effect on appointments as drivers experience long wait times at various terminals;
• Government regulations have become much stricter, causing truckers to use valuable driving time working to become more safety-compliant. In an industry facing incredible cost increases, this has impacted the driver pool.

Evergreen concluded the statement with advising their clients that should there be any service delays, all costs associated with these delays such as congestion, demurrage, waiting and the like, will be at the expense of the cargo.

[mappress]
Press Release, August 8, 2014