The lack of supply is in the market for cargo unloading at the ports... There are not enough cranes & container chassis to service the combined weight of regular demand plus the backed-up pandemic demand. The unloading infrastructure is very capital-intensive, and highly localized, and so far the shipping companies have been unwilling to invest in expanding unloading capacity.
There's a terrible lack in moving capacity. Sea, ports and warehouses are full of static containers, and that's bad: the optimal state for a container is "moving".
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> It’s important to understand what the cost implications are for consumers with this lack of supply in the supply chain.
The sea is full of ships with 1000's of containers full of goods.
The port is full of containers with goods.
The warehouses are full of goods and have containers sitting around in the lots or on the streets, also full.
Where is the lack of supply exactly?
The lack of supply is in the market for cargo unloading at the ports... There are not enough cranes & container chassis to service the combined weight of regular demand plus the backed-up pandemic demand. The unloading infrastructure is very capital-intensive, and highly localized, and so far the shipping companies have been unwilling to invest in expanding unloading capacity.
There's a terrible lack in moving capacity. Sea, ports and warehouses are full of static containers, and that's bad: the optimal state for a container is "moving".