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In its wake Baltimore bridge collapsesupply chains demonstrate their resilience to pain points and logistical challenges such as traffic congestion and volume diversion.
Stakeholders have adapted to keep cargo flowing, even amid longer permitted hours for truckers, a rapid response to reset the channel completelyand nearby ports noting their ability to help handle diverted cargo.
The port of Virginia, for example, was handled 291,700 TEU in March, and the port expects to handle an additional 18,000 to 20,000 containers through April, Senior Communications Director Joe Harris told Supply Chain Dive.
“Sounds like a lot. It’s a lot, but we can absorb it. We have that level of capacity,” Harris said, noting that the volume increase is manageable — it’s an inflow of cargo, not ships.
In addition, the railroads responded with more trains between Baltimore and New York, the carriers are navigating the challenges and truck lane pressures have been satisfied with plenty of capacity.
At the same time, steep congestion after the tragedy meant some trucks had some travel times double or triple, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said. a public meeting on April 10.
While the logistics of importing containers and repositioning the chassis may present some difficulties, capacity is responding after the bridge collapse, said Jonathan Eisen, executive director for the American Trucking Association’s Intermodal Motor Carriers Conference. Import issues are more about delays and obstacles than unmanageable disruption.
Former federal shipping commissioner and former executive director of the Maryland Ports Authority, William Doyle, said in a LinkedIn post that supply chains show their resilience to the bridge collapse, which is expected to have minimal impact on many cargo categories.
He noted that coal exports from western Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia are affected, while pulp products at the Port of Baltimore are also important. But daily “retail specials will not be affected,” he said in the post.
“The supply chain is resilient,” Doyle wrote, “just like Baltimore.”