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Santa’s Sleigh may be delayed

Ed Townsend
Posted 10/19/21

Was talking the past few days with UPS and FedEx drivers delivering packages to me and asked what they are hearing about any possible delays in getting Christmas gifts and both company drivers …

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Here & There

Santa’s Sleigh may be delayed

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Was talking the past few days with UPS and FedEx drivers delivering packages to me and asked what they are hearing about any possible delays in getting Christmas gifts and both company drivers indicated that because of COVID restrictions and a big boom in online shopping that this has overwhelmed the global supply line.

So my next question to them is how can shoppers who use online shopping get what they order before Christmas. The drivers said folks should do their shopping as early as possible…like right now.

No one likes to hear about packages arriving late for Christmas. In fact my neighbor orders a lot of clothing online and she tells me she is getting items weeks later than she expected them.

There is no doubt the problem here is the COVID 19 pandemic and the fact that the pandemic has led to a worldwide disruption of the container shipping industry and extra stringent COVID-19 safety rules and regulations at major ports in China, and this has resulted in empty ships idling in harbors and goods stuck in warehouses.

According to an opinion piece on Marketwatch.com, delays in getting anything ordered is not the only problem says Stavros Karamperidis, writer for The Conversation, an academic website and a lecturer in maritime economics at the University of Plymouth, England, who estimated the cost of moving a 40-foot container from China to Europe is now about $14,000…10 times what it would normally be…and the cost gets passed on to the consumer.

Reports from Southern California have indicated a logjam of container ships crammed with hundreds of thousands of crates and boxes waiting to be unloaded at the Port of Los Angeles.

Some ports have said they would expand their hours and are prepared to take immediate action to help the supply chain move the record cargo volumes.

So get your online shopping done now to avoid hearing that Santa’s sleigh may be delayed.

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