There are no quick fixes to systemic problems that were decades in the making: cato.org/commentary/ame…
https://twitter.com/HotlineJosh/status/1442110652919648259
In the latest (2020) World Bank/IHS Markit survey of global port efficiency, the ports of LA & Long Beach - the busiest in the USA, handling 40% of all imports - ranked a dismal 328th and 333rd, respectively. No US port ranked in the top 50.
Can't fix that overnight, folks.
Can't fix that overnight, folks.
Why do our ports stink? Well, union contracts mandate insanely high wages, rigid work schedules, & express limits on efficiency-enhancing automation. Meanwhile, the Jones Act & other US trade laws restrict port dredging (for more/bigger ships) & stress inland freight operations.
To top it all off, we just slapped 221% tariffs on imports of intermodal chassis from China (largest supplier), thus contributing to the shortage of chassis truckers need to move containers. And US law bars the agencies from delaying/nixing the duties bc of the current crisis!
So, yeah, some of this is just the pandemic - supply/demand imbalances, labor shortages, warehouse space, etc - doing its thing. But a LOT of it was decades in the making - and avoidable w policy reforms in earlier, non-pandemic times. /x
P.s. Plenty more, and links, in here: cato.org/commentary/ame…
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