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Flexport CEO on how to fix the US supply chain crisis

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Re: Flexport CEO on how to fix the US supply chain crisis

#21

Post by fulafel »

vilppuvuorinen wrote: post #8
remarkEon wrote: post #2

I'm not sure I agree with the conclusions in this thread. >It seems that everyone now agrees that the bottleneck is yard space at the container terminals. The terminals are simply overflowing with containers, which means they no longer have space to take in new containers either from ships or land. It’s a true traffic jam This seems like definitely not the real bottleneck. You have to ask yourself, "why is there no s…

Every available chassis and inch of yard space is filled with empty containers. Maybe the labor deficit is in the production of exportable goods that would turn the empty containers into full containers on their way out of the docks. There's an ongoing world wide (minus some regions) container shortage going on at the same time.

Lots of (most?) places have permanent imbalances in # of full containers imported vs exported, it just means empty containers are shipped out or in.

Re: Flexport CEO on how to fix the US supply chain crisis

#22

Post by kmlx »

cr1895 wrote: post #18
kmlx wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why is this not a major talking point? because we live in a globalised world. your phone would cost 10x what it costs now if you moved production to the US. that would mean lots of people without phones, so a much smaller economy. no one wants that. > Americans have been polled ah, polls :) > across the aisle people prefer made in the USA as a European, i have always associated American made with low quality, cheap…

> as a European, i have always associated American made with low quality, cheaply made, bad taste and expensive. American products are to be avoided at all times. What informs that viewpoint? It’s really foreign to any perception I’ve ever heard from anyone or experienced myself.

weird. i don’t know anyone who has had a good experience, or who prefers american made products. cars, food, fashion etc. they represent bad taste and poor quality. i thought this was known globally. like how germans are technical. one of those things that are part truth, part myth.

where i come from if someone wants great quality we buy european, japanese or chinese products.

whenever i travel to different continents for work, no one i talk to wants or buys american made anything. it’s again, european, japanese or chinese.

of course software is different, due to its globalised nature.

and of course sometimes you buy american branded products. if you can’t find anything else, you kind of have to settle with the american product.

Re: Flexport CEO on how to fix the US supply chain crisis

#23

Post by qeternity »

remarkEon wrote: post #2

I'm not sure I agree with the conclusions in this thread. >It seems that everyone now agrees that the bottleneck is yard space at the container terminals. The terminals are simply overflowing with containers, which means they no longer have space to take in new containers either from ships or land. It’s a true traffic jam This seems like definitely not the real bottleneck. You have to ask yourself, "why is there no s…

No, this is not the likely root cause for reasons another commenter notes.

But I want to point something out: ports and logistics infrastructure are the most unionized, protected industries that exist. The truckers may not be, but the rest of the value chain is, often resulting in huge inefficiencies.

You note something like truckers waiting in lines for hours but only getting paid when they move the goods. 1) they are waiting in line for hours because unions strictly control the amount of labor in ports (these manual labor jobs often pay low-mid six figures) and 2) driver’s simply factor these types of costs and many others into their prices. Owner operators aren’t paid hourly, like millions of other business owners.

This is absolutely not where the current issues lie.

Re: Flexport CEO on how to fix the US supply chain crisis

#24

Post by cr1895 »

kmlx wrote: post #22
cr1895 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> as a European, i have always associated American made with low quality, cheaply made, bad taste and expensive. American products are to be avoided at all times. What informs that viewpoint? It’s really foreign to any perception I’ve ever heard from anyone or experienced myself.

weird. i don’t know anyone who has had a good experience, or who prefers american made products. cars, food, fashion etc. they represent bad taste and poor quality. i thought this was known globally. like how germans are technical. one of those things that are part truth, part myth. where i come from if someone wants great quality we buy european, japanese or chinese products. whenever i travel to different continent…

> one of those things that are part truth, part myth

Yeah perhaps true. But then I’d say that it’s essentially a meaningless conclusion to hold as some universal truth.

Re: Flexport CEO on how to fix the US supply chain crisis

#25

Post by LurkingPenguin »

kmlx wrote: post #20
systemvoltage wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Be careful of European Exceptionalism that reverberates same uninformed thinking American Exceptionalism was known for. Usually, full of prejudice, glib pride and delirious nationalism.

i am very careful. i prefer any other nations products. japan, china, almost any country in europe, lots in south america. but the US has constantly disappointed. and not only recently, but throughout the decades.

Can you name Chinese products (made in China by and for Chinese companies -- not American or European companies) that you consider to be of high quality? Same for South America.

And what American products have "constantly" disappointed you?

Re: Flexport CEO on how to fix the US supply chain crisis

#26

Post by LurkingPenguin »

kmlx wrote: post #22
cr1895 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> as a European, i have always associated American made with low quality, cheaply made, bad taste and expensive. American products are to be avoided at all times. What informs that viewpoint? It’s really foreign to any perception I’ve ever heard from anyone or experienced myself.

weird. i don’t know anyone who has had a good experience, or who prefers american made products. cars, food, fashion etc. they represent bad taste and poor quality. i thought this was known globally. like how germans are technical. one of those things that are part truth, part myth. where i come from if someone wants great quality we buy european, japanese or chinese products. whenever i travel to different continent…

I have had exposure to industrial equipment sales in Asia, Latin America and the Mideast. American-made equipment generally has an excellent reputation. Cost, however, is often an issue.

It would be helpful if you were more specific. Where do you come from? What types of products are you talking about?

Re: Flexport CEO on how to fix the US supply chain crisis

#27

Post by AnimalMuppet »

TheBill wrote: post #17
AnimalMuppet wrote: post #6

There's some good stuff in here, but also some bad ideas. The bad ones: - Bring the military and National Guard container chassis to relieve the ports. That works, unless there's a situation where the military or National Guard need them , in which case it could be catastrophic. - Force railroads to haul to this one particular new site. First, I kind of bristle at the word "force". That's not how it works in a free c…

Theres an AFB outside of LA with proper rail siding. He identified it & facilities in thread. Railroad are a regulated monopoly. DOT/FRA can mandate service & regulate rates (either for freight or using their track) to prevent one carrier from making movement impossible. If DOT/FRA do it right they'd economically incentivise the short haul.

> Theres an AFB outside of LA with proper rail siding. He identified it & facilities in thread.

It exists. It has a rail siding. Can it handle the throughput that we're talking about? Air force bases have rail service, but they don't have the infrastructure for high-volume rail traffic.

> Railroad are a regulated monopoly.

Railroads are regulated, but are not a monopoly. (Though a railroad may have a monopoly on rail service to a particular customer, that's not the usual definition of a monopoly.)

> DOT/FRA can mandate service & regulate rates (either for freight or using their track) to prevent one carrier from making movement impossible. If DOT/FRA do it right they'd economically incentivise the short haul.

I believe that the STB is the one that regulates rates and service (and much less stringently than the old Interstate Commerce Commission did pre-Staggers Act deregulation). DOT is more about regulating safety.

Anyway: Could it be done? Yes, maybe, to some degree. Could they move enough containers to unblock the ports in a finite amount of time? I'm much more skeptical. It's not a matter of the rates and regulation, either - it's a matter of building track and other infrastructure at the AFB.

Re: Flexport CEO on how to fix the US supply chain crisis

#28

Post by AnimalMuppet »

coolso wrote: post #13
jdhn wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>across the aisle people prefer made in the USA. They may say this, but when push comes to shove, people simply don't buy a lot of consumer goods that are made here.

That’s because right now, it’s significantly more expensive. But given more equal pricing, most people would of course buy USA-made goods. Right now the system is destroyed so of course made in the USA is going to be significantly more expensive until the system can be resurrected. But I assure you a supply chain disruption will be significantly more costly to society and not just financially.

Well, right now, "expensive but I can get it" beats "cheaper but sitting on a boat outside Long Beach". Problem is, nobody thinks this is going to last long enough for everyone to invest in US manufacturing.

Re: Flexport CEO on how to fix the US supply chain crisis

#29

Post by nradov »

spiffytech wrote: post #12
remarkEon wrote: post #2

I'm not sure I agree with the conclusions in this thread. >It seems that everyone now agrees that the bottleneck is yard space at the container terminals. The terminals are simply overflowing with containers, which means they no longer have space to take in new containers either from ships or land. It’s a true traffic jam This seems like definitely not the real bottleneck. You have to ask yourself, "why is there no s…

> Why don't you have enough trucks? This is addressed later in the thread. Normally, many trucks haul containers to their destination, unload the container, then return it empty to the port, pull it off the trailer, and haul away another loaded container. But the port is too full to accept empty containers, and zoning laws mean truck companies have already maxed out their own container holding areas. This leaves enor…

Would it make sense to clear the jam by scrapping some of empty containers for steel recycling?

Re: Flexport CEO on how to fix the US supply chain crisis

#30

Post by nradov »

coolso wrote: post #4

It feels like everyone is trying real hard to come up with solutions that just continue the status quo of having all of our goods produced in China. Just 20-25 years ago we were still making a lot of things in the US. But the American worker, and economy, was sold out to cheap, high-polluting, IP-stealing, yes-lets-ship-it-2000-miles-instead-of-making-it-in-the-US Chinese labor and manufacturing at the benefit of the…

We still make things in the US. Manufacturing revenue has been consistently increasing. However manufacturing as a share of GDP has fallen as other sectors grew faster. And employment has fallen due to automation and process improvements.

https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/USA/united-states/manu...

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