driving, that is an aging population and younger drivers seemingly have options they like better. Carroll did report that the DRIVE Safe Act, which is designed to implement an apprentice program for drivers under the age of 21, has begun a three-year pilot program. The pilot program is available for 15,000 young drivers. If it is successful, it could open the door to a career as a truck driver for these potential employees before they head down another career path. Discussing the ports and global freight situation, Rowlett revealed that, in 2021, the volume coming into the country through the top 10 U.S. ports was up 20 percent, which was a major cause of the port congestion. However, he said in the latter part of the year, volume actually dropped in some ports, such as Long Beach- Los Angeles, while it increased at some of the country’s smaller ports. That shifting created a reallocation of assets, such as chassis. Consequently, Rowlett said some of the current congestion at the larger ports is related to the lack of equipment on shore rather than the number of container ships waiting outside the harbor to unload. However, he said working through the logjam is a time-consuming process. Rowlett told the internet audience that it appears there will be little port relief in 2022. One reason is the labor situation at the ports, which remains understaffed. The coronavirus created shortages and Rowlett said “ocean front labor remains volatile…remains strained.” He added that 2022 could bring another challenge as the International Longshore &Warehouse Union contrct withWest Coast employers expires on July 1 of this year. The ILWU and the Pacific Maritime Association have a history of contentious negotiations with lockouts and strikes, and there is no reason to suspect that agreeing to a contract will be any easier this time around. And one could certainly argue that the chronically congested ports will add another difficult dimension to the discussions.
Rowlett said no new capacity is expected in the ocean transportation sector with rates remaining flat or increasing only slightly. The CHR expert touched on air freight only lightly as it is not expected to play an important role in 2022. He said that for the most part airliners are not expecting passenger travel to return to pre-pandemic levels this year. It is passenger planes that account for much of air cargo space and while air travel remains underused, compared to pre-pandemic times, cargo capacity will also be at the low end of the spectrum. The speakers did discuss the Canadian trucking issue and the potential for that spilling over to the United States. For the past several weeks, Canadian truckers have been protesting Canada’s vaccine mandate, which requires cross-border truckers to have been vaccinated against the coronavirus. U.S. regulators enacted a similar rule in January for U.S.-based truckers. Raetz said the “foundational attributes” of the Canadian and U.S. trucking industries are dissimilar so he does not believe similar protests will erupt in the United States. He noted that cross-border traffic is a very significant factor for Canadian truck drivers as 80 percent of that volume is carried by Canadian-flagged trucks, which amounts to a sizeable portion of Canada’s truck traffic. On the other hand, cross-border traffic is only a small portion of the volume carried by U.S. truck drivers who have many other options. The speakers only spent a few minutes discussing strategies companies impacted by the logistics issues might employ. Concerning long haul loads, Raetz suggested utilizing digitally- enabled spot market services, be open to diversified modes and focus on building strong relationships with carriers. For container traffic, a similar strategy was suggested: build strong relationships with carriers, maximize container capacity and be flexible in considering different options.
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MARCH | APRIL 2022
Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com
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