ISSAQUAH, WA - With everything from weather disruptions to labor challenges and government policy changes impacting fresh produce supply chains daily, our industry is well-equipped to pivot on a dime. Even so, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have proved to be persistent, and, as such, we are now staring down a whole new set of challenges. One primary suspect, as Vanguard International explains, is the movement of containers amidst an unprecedented surge in shipments globally.

“The supply demand was unprecedented. It was like taking back-to-school and holiday predictable demand periods, putting them together, and that still didn’t properly represent demand levels,” shares Tim Clarke, President of Vanguard International USA.

This demand surge is not exclusive to fresh produce; all industries across the globe have experienced shipping container challenges in the past several months, which has even further exacerbated the situation. As Vanguard puts it, demand went through the roof and the supply chain was caught off guard.

According to a company press release, demand for products out of the Greater Asia regions has been so strong that freight rates can be upwards of $20,000 for a container on the spot market, representing a quadrupling of ‘normal’ rates in many instances. Rising demand for shipping containers was so strong that many steamship lines would load empty containers on vessels just to get them back to Asia as fast as possible to be reloaded.

“The demand has just continued to push freight costs up and up and to date we still have not seen a ceiling,” comments Clarke. “One carrier source we work with shared that the demand on the frozen food industry side of things is so high, [carriers] are being offered $6,000 over their current rate and noted they have not found the top of what price will be offered. Luckily, they have continued to work with us within our given contracts because they are looking at our long-term relationship, but this is not the case in every scenario.”

In the U.S. market as of the last week of July, there were 3,000 full containers sitting on rail lines just outside of Chicago that caused train traffic to completely halt, the press release continued. These containers were unable to be unpacked because storage facilities are so full and there is no available warehouse space.

We are also seeing a shortage of container chassis. Containers normally come off ships, but their return is so delayed that operators cannot take the containers off the boat, and when they do, there is no guarantee a chassis will be available to move it.

As Vanguard seeks to answer the question of “where in the world is my shipping container?” the company has issued further insights which ANUK will be sharing with you in the coming days.

Vanguard International