Freight markets have entered their second year of extreme dislocation, brought on by record consumer spending and a transportation network that doesn’t have the labor or equipment to fill the need.
A lack of openings on ocean sailing schedules, ships waiting longer to berth at the ports and delays unloading the freight once it has landed are some of the front-end issues facing the transportation industry. Once freight is routed inland, a chicken-and-egg scenario is playing out between container/chassis scarcity and slow rail service, with each causing further detriment to the other.