Welcome to the WHAT THE TRUCK?!? Newsletter presented by Unisys. In this issue, East and Gulf Coast ports prepare for strike in 6 days; are truckers serial killers?; and Trump vs. John Deere.
6 days and counting — Shippers and logistics firms are approaching a dire situation as a potential ILA work stoppage threatens to shut down ports from Maine to Texas on Oct. 1.
FreightWaves reports, “Bargaining on a new master contract covering 45,000 union workers at three dozen ports from Texas to Maine broke down months ago over unspecified proposals on wages, benefits and job protection. Biden earlier said he won’t block a port strike by the ILA.”
More surcharges — Last week in this newsletter, I talked about a few of the recently announced work stoppage surcharges. Since then, more carriers have been adding their own.
“Due to potential labour disruptions, Maersk is implementing a local Port Disruption Surcharge for all cargo moving to and from the US East Coast and Gulf Coast terminals, effective October 21, 2024.” – Maersk’s latest trade alert
Effective Oct. 21, Denmark mega-liner Maersk will tack on a Port Disruption Surcharge to all containers coming or going from impacted ports.
Seatrade reports, “The surcharge is rated at $1,500 per teu, $3,000 per 40-foot containers including hi-cubes, and $3,780 for a 45-footer.” As you can see, these fees will add up quick.
Maersk joins Hapag-Lloyd, CMA CGM and others that have added their own disruption surcharges. Hapag-Lloyd and CMA CGM are slightly less greedy than Maersk. They’re only charging $1,000 per TEU.
Retail begs Biden — Shippers are scrambling as this strike hits right as the holiday season approaches. FreightWaves reports, “On Monday the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) in a letter to Biden expressed “deep concern” about disruptions a strike could have on East and Gulf Coast ports.”
“The ILA ports account for 53% of all U.S. apparel, footwear and accessories imports, or more than $92 billion, according to the trade group’s data.” – FreightWaves’ Stuart Chirls
The AAFA represented $92 billion worth of imports that pass through the impacted ports. The group warns that the strike will likely send shippers back to West Coast ports, but those are already experiencing high freight volumes and could get congested quickly.
With negotiations stalled and Biden saying he won’t invoke Taft-Hartley, we could be experiencing pandemic freight deja vu if this goes on for more than a couple days. Each day of disruption takes six to 10 days to clear.
How are you preparing for the potential strike? Are you already screwed with tons of cargo en route? Do you think Biden invokes Taft-Hartley, or will Christmas be ruined? Email me.
Road kill – National Truck Driver Appreciation Week has barely ended and people are already back to accusing truck drivers of being serial killers. It’s a hard road for drivers: Not only can the lifestyle suck, but the last time a trucker was even portrayed as a hero in a major motion picture was when Sly Stallone played Lincoln Hawk in the 1980s classic “Over The Top.”
Ever since then, the public tends to regard truckers as being closer in nature to Rusty Nail in “Joyride” than Jerry Reed in “Smokey and the Bandit.”
While truck driver (and warehouse worker) are both top-three jobs for serial killers, there are nearly 4 million truckers in the U.S. The vast majority are big teddy bears, but there have been a few notable bad apples in the bunch.
Keith Hunter Jesperson is a 6-foot, 8-inch son of a b***h who confessed to killing 160 people, eight of which have been confirmed. He is known as the “Happy Face Killer” because after his first kill, he was upset someone else took credit for it. So, he wrote a confession on a wall in a truck stop bathroom and signed it with a happy face. When that didn’t work, he wrote a six-page letter signed with a smiley face to The Oregonian detailing his crimes.
Robert Ben Rhoades’ mugshot
Robert Ben Rhoades is known as “The Truck Stop Killer” for his MO of abducting women and couples he found hitchhiking or at rest stops. He liked to hold women captive for days while he abused them. While he was only convicted of one murder, authorities suspect his involvement in over 50 deaths.
Sean Patrick Goble was known as the “Interstate Killer” for his murder spree in the mid-90s. He targeted truck stop sex workers and has killed at least four women.
The FBI even has its own Highway Serial Killings initiative that began as a reaction to a string of murders in 2004 along I-40 in the South.
So, are all truckers serial killers? Of course not. But there are a few. Keep your doors locked when at truck stop
American-made – John Deere has been eyeing a move to Mexico to better optimize its global supply chain. However, Donald Trump had some harsh words for the company on Monday. This comes after John Deere announced it would lay off 600 employees at three plants on Aug. 30.
At a rally in Pennsylvania, Trump told supporters, “I am just notifying John Deere right now that if you do that, we are putting a 200% tariff on everything that you want to sell into the United States.”
Mark Cuban, a very vocal supporter of Kamala Harris, called the move “insane.” He says it will just raise the cost of goods made in Mexico while allowing cheaper products to come in from China. What he doesn’t mention is that Trump also plans to add a 60% tariff to Chinese imports.
However, that’s only if John Deere follows through with the production shift. I believe Trump’s point is that it would force their hand to keep production in the U.S.
There’s just one problem: the USMCA Act, which he signed as president. That act replaced NAFTA but allows for the production of a number of goods manufactured in Canada and Mexico to cross borders duty-free.
What do you think? Should Trump continue to beat the tariff drum, or will the consumer end up paying the price? Sound off and email me.
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WTT Wednesday
From barge to space: How NASA moves rockets – Wednesday live on WHAT THE TRUCK?!?, we’re joined by NASA’s Jason Dickerson to talk about the logistics of moving rockets. From barge to space, how does this type of heavy haul work?
Ryder and Terminal have teamed up to digitize yards and have achieved 99% accuracy with AI computer vision. We’ll find out how from RyderVenture’s Mike Plasencia and Terminal Industries’ Max Constant.
Plus, six days until East and Gulf Coast ports strike and the latest headlines and weirdness going down in this wild industry.
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