Tuesday, November 19

Supply chain crisis: Port of Miami tries to persuade shipping companies to be used as unloading destination


Contenedores de barcos de carga apilados en un puerto estadounidense.
Freight ship containers stacked in a US port.

Photo: Spencer Platt / Getty Images

Both the US government and the affected companies are working to solve or lessen, as far as they are concerned, the problem of supply crises. From the executive to the businessman they are verifying all possible options so that the distribution problem in the United States is not reflected in the shops for the Christmas season.

In this sense, it was known that Port of Miami authorities have contacted major shipping companies to let them know that, given the congestion in California ports, their ships are welcome in the port of the Florida city.

This was announced by the director of the port of Miami, Juan Kuryla, who assures that this port has has been preparing and investing in infrastructure and machinery for modernization.

“Cargo ships are welcome in PortMiami. Investments the county has made in the port, including new cranes, upgraded freight rail, and the underwater tunnel connecting PortMiami to the MacArthur Causeway, have helped the ramp run smoothly. ”

Juan Kuryla.

At the same time, from Miami, distribution centers and warehouses have been contacted to ask them to extend their hours in the receipt of merchandise. Miami is considered the tenth most important cargo port in the country.

Within this proposal It has been contemplated that unloading in Miami instead of California, implies more days of navigation and going through the Panama Canal, which has a cost ; but at the same time the cost of tariffs for unloading in Miami is lower than that of unloading in California and also the ships would not spend so many days waiting to unload.

That is, the diversion to Miami may have costs on the one hand, but in the end it saves time and money, ensures the direct from the Florida port.

But Miami is not the only port that is ready to help this distribution crisis, there are others 27 ports in the state of Florida doing the same to attract vessels and release cargo and the pressure that the west coast of the country has at the moment.

The reality is that all those interested are trying to do everything possible to attack the problem. Large American retailers such as Walmart, Target and others began an effort to expand their working hours, especially at night in ports, in order to meet delivery needs.

As requested by President Joe Biden himself last week, he asked the private sector to help ease the supply chain blockage that threatens that Christmas 2021, in the United States, will be marked by shortages.

The Florida Ports Council makes it clear that what they want is not only to ease the load to the Californian ports for a few weeks, but that their goal is “to turn Florida into a destination for the cargo industry “.

Read more: Empty markets in USA: some of the products that are no longer get by supply chain failure