FYI, the port backlog has nothing to do with Truckers. It is 100% the fault of the Ports of Long Beach & Los Angeles. They were ranked this week as the 390th worst port in the world (Chinese and Saudi Arabian ports are in the Top 10). They are horribly inefficient, every day this month there are dozens of trucks waiting to be given a container. Aside from the longshoremen who secure the ship to the docks, it only takes 2 people to unload each container. First is the crane operator, who uses a special "clamp" to pick up the container. Within 5 minutes, the container is off the ship and onto a chassis, the next person is a "jockey" who takes the container + chassis to a spot on the yard, ready to be taken out of the port.
BUT, if they do not have enough chassis for the containers, either they stack the container in the yard or just leave it on the ship. If a trucker has a chassis only, they can go in, the yard has a lift truck who can get the container on the chassis, and it is on its way. The port would need thousands of chassis to put containers on, but the port can't buy them fast enough. Most port trucking companies can not simply move one chassis to another port.
In terms of moving from LA/LB to Florida, the Bills of Lading must be changed, which is something only the shipping company (usually in China) can do. Otherwise, it would be one week to go from LA/LB to Florida, then another week for a trucker to take to California to unload, then return to Florida since that chassis is assigned to Florida. Can it work? Possibly. Sending the freight to lesser-used California ports (if they can handle the ships) is probably a better solution.
TS
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