Thread by @typesfast

The decline in ships waiting just offshore of Los Angeles/Long Beach continues to be touted as a sign that port congestion is easing — despite the fact that the true number of waiting ships has not actually declined.

…w-freightwaves-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.freigh…

The ports just made the ships wait out at sea to avoid air pollution in LA. The overall queue, including container ships waiting out at sea is larger than ever.

"The total — 94 — was just shy of Monday’s all-time record of 96 (including ships outside the SAQA), and up 27% from the count on Oct. 25."

Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, said during a press conference Tuesday while standing alongside Labor Secretary Marty Walsh: “Since we instituted a penalty for long-aging containers, the number of ships at anchor has decreased by more than 40%."

Yet clearly the number of ships at anchor is not a reliable indicator. It can be easily manipulated by forcing the ships over the horizon.

And anyways, the count of ships at anchor doesn't measure what we really want to know—how long does it take to get containers delivered all the way from origin to destination.

To address this, our economists at Flexport Research have created the "Ocean Timeliness Indicator."
flexport.com/indicators/oce…

This new index that measures the time it takes from the date a factory tells us their cargo is ready at origin to when the container is picked up from the destination port.

The data is clear: Delays in shipping on the Transpacific corridor are at their peak and continue to get worse.

Flexport Research will update this indicator every week to provide information on the true nature of supply chain delays and not allow our leaders to gaslight us by just hiding ships out of sight over the horizon.

We post updates to all of our economic indicators regularly at Flexport.com/research. Please join us as we use our front row seats in international logistics to provide unprecedented insights into the workings of the global economy.

The data *are* clear.... also can we all just vote to fix this flaw in the english language and make data singular?