Hundreds of requests for details on the specifics of the container shipping backlog. So, I spent 3 days calling sources, digging for details and gathering information on the substantive issue at hand. The epicenter of the problem is not what is being outlined by financial media, corporate media and politicians who have a specific interest in distracting from the issues at hand. This has nothing to do with COVID-19.
The issues being discussed today relate to events that happened a long time ago. As a matter of fact, it was so predictable that Amazon, Walmart, UPS, FedEx, Samsung, The Home Depot and Target all had taken actions years ago -long before COVID- because they knew this day would come. It was not accidental that those companies showed up at the White House to discuss the issue, because there’s now a full court press to hide it.
There is one very specific regional issue driving the problem. Read on:
The trucking issue with California LA ports, ie the Port of Los Angeles (POLA) and the Port of Long Beach (POLB), is that all semi tractors have to be current with new California emissions standards. As a consequence, that mean trucks cannot be older than 3 years if they are to pick up or deliver containers at those ports. This issue wipes out approximately half of the fleet trucks used to move containers in/out of the port. Operating the port 24/7 will not cure the issue, because all it does is pile up more containers that sit idle as they await a limited number of trucks to pick them up. THIS is the central issue.
On October 16, 2020, the EPA reached a settlement agreement [DATA HERE] with California Air Resource Board (CARB) to shut down semi tractor rigs that were non-compliant with new California emission standards:
2020 SAN FRANCISCO – “Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced settlements with three interstate trucking companies imposing $417,000 in penalties for violating the California Air Resources Board’s federally enforceable Truck and Bus Regulation, Drayage Truck Regulation and Transport Refrigeration Unit Regulation.
“As trucks are one of the largest sources of air pollution in California, EPA will continue to ensure these heavy-duty vehicles have the needed pollution-control equipment and operate in compliance with the rules,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator John Busterud. “These companies have agreed to bring their trucks into compliance and operate more cleanly in all communities they serve.”
Transportation is a primary contributor to the high levels of air pollutants in Southern California and the Central Valley. Diesel emissions from trucks are one of the state’s largest sources of fine particle pollution, or soot, which is linked to health issues including asthma, impaired lung development in children, and cardiovascular effects in adults. Many of these trucks are older models and emit high amounts of particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NOx).
[…] California Truck and Bus Regulation and Drayage Truck Regulation have been essential parts of the state’s federally enforceable plan to attain cleaner air. California requires trucking companies to upgrade vehicles they own to meet specific NOx and PM performance standards and to verify compliance of vehicles they hire or dispatch. Heavy-duty diesel trucks in California must meet 2010 engine emissions standards or use diesel particulate filters to reduce the diesel particulates emissions into the atmosphere by 85% or more. (read more)
In effect, what this 2020 determination and settlement created was an inability of half the nation’s truckers from picking up anything from the Port of LA or Port of Long Beach. Virtually all private owner operator trucks and half of the fleet trucks that are used for moving containers across the nation were shut out.
In an effort to offset the problem, transportation companies started using compliant trucks (low emission) to take the products to the California state line, where they could be transferred to non-compliant trucks who cannot enter California. However, the scale of the problem creates an immediate bottleneck that builds over time. It doesn’t matter if the ports start working 24/7, they are only going to end up with even more containers waiting on a limited amount of available trucks.
Yesterday, in an effort to obfuscate and actually hide the epicenter of the issue, the White House put on a performance to provide political cover. In a grand pantomime, Joe Biden met with the heads of the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach (Gene Seroka and Mario Cordero, respectively), and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU).
The publicized meeting and White House conference was sold as Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg showing actions they are taking to address delays and congestion across the transportation supply chain in Southern California.
As a result of the meeting, the Port of Los Angeles (POLA) announced that it will join the Port of Long Beach (POLB) in expanding to 24/7 operations. POLA will add new off-peak nighttime shifts and weekend hours, nearly doubling its hours of operation. The ILWU said its members are willing to work those extra shifts to add needed labor capacity.
That publicly promoted action event was a complete political farce. No amount of extra productivity in working the docks to off-load ships will solve the issue of trucks that cannot pick up the containers and distribute them toward manufacturing or warehouses.
As I noted, the issue started becoming visible several years ago when the California Air Resource Board (CARB) announced the new environmental regulations. Several massive multinational corporations, with specifically in-tune supply and logistics operations, immediately recognized the issue they would face if 50+ percent of the trucking fleet would be blocked from entering California ports.
Yes, years ago the private sector predicted this would happen, and they started taking actions to protect their supply chains. What these massive corporations did to reduce their exposure to supply chain disruption was to immediately formulate plans to divert their goods to other ports. This was a very expensive shift in supply chain and logistic efforts for these massive corporations, which includes: Amazon, Walmart, UPS, FedEx, Samsung, The Home Depot and Target.
A long time before and during the era of the Trump administration, those massive multinational corporations knew they would need to redirect their import cargo quickly to avoid the bottleneck caused by California’s new emission standards. They began organizing new destination ports for their products and began setting up new hubs and distribution networks to avoid the predictable California port bottlenecks.
Obviously, for politically correct reasons; and in an effort to avoid the woke mob of environmentalist jackboots, the corporations didn’t publicly share any of the issues they could foresee coming – they just worked independently and quietly to avoid the issue.
However, it costs more money to move and entire supply chain for trillions of tons of goods coming. Hence, we saw prices climbing as a result of increased transportation costs being factored in to the new logistics. Did you hear about massive increases in container shipment prices? Well, THAT’S WHY. The entire supply chain from Asia to the United States was being modified from the closest port (California) to the ports where internal transportation would not be an issue.
Ships from China and SE Asia being diverted from California into the Gulf of Mexico or East coast have to go through the Panama Canal. It takes twice as long and costs twice as much, if not more. Hence, massive shipping price increases:
Unfortunately, small companies and small brokers of import goods do not have the control over their part of the supply chain from Asia to the West Coast. They don’t contract for entire cargo ships with thousands of containers. Those wholesalers, brokers and smaller companies that feed raw material and parts supplies to manufacturing and smaller retail outlets are stuck waiting for their containers to get through the trucking issue in California.
The bottleneck at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach run by Gene Seroka and Mario Cordero is not caused by a lack of longshoremen and dock workers to off-load the vessels. The bottleneck is caused by half of the previous trucks used to enter the ports and pick up containers not being allowed. Factually, it doesn’t make a tinkers damn worth of difference if the port works 24/7/365. The ports are simply running out of space.
The ports are running out of places to store containers full of goods that are getting off-loaded. Hundreds of thousands of them are piling up. The central issue is the inability of emission compliant heavy transportation in California to move those containers full of goods to manufacturing, warehouses and distribution points.
This California bottleneck has been building, and building and building for years, until now it has reached a crisis point.
If you want to know how long this has been taking place, take the time to watch this video of a trans-continental shipment belonging to Amazon Inc from China. As you watch this really good discussion, think about how long Amazon Inc. has known about the problem in order for them to have put such a massive solution into place in order to avoid California.
Yeah, this California emissions issue has been identified for years, and Amazon has been planning to avoid it for years. WATCH:
Sundance, Thank you very much for unearthing the Truth on this issue! I am SO GRATEFUL, because SO MANY New Reports are Pure Unadulterated Bull-BLEEP, and although many suspect that the Approved Political Establishment Narrative is Questionable at Best, the majority of us have No Way of ferreting out the Real Story.
It makes Perfect Sense that Ecologically Progressive California would Self-Sabotage their own ports.
Thank again for ferreting out the Truth. .
What Truly Amazes me is the widespread LYING from the White House and throughout the “Not All There” Joe Administration to the Trade Unions to the Major Import Corporations to the California Political Class. Amazing!
They blame it on emissions and cow farts. Sure. Chemtrails don’t harm the environment at all.
Cow farts are irrelevant. We had 60 million buffalo…remember.
It’s not just the EPA regulations. It’s also AB-5, the California law which made Uber drivers “employees” and not “contractors”. An exemption was made for truckers, but then struck down in April. which basically eliminated owner-operated trucks. Then the appeal failed. Then SCOTUS refused to hear the case. So here we are.
Also, you know, there are ports in Oregon and Washington too. Just saying. LA had been handling 40% of container imports, but there are other west coast options… although I hear Florida’s nice.
Sundance, thanks for the dive and laying that out. Seriously.
Ultimately, it’s going to be good that Pudd’nhead and his operationally incompetent weasels cannot “fix” this in a short timeframe.
Have a good evening. I’ll be checking which of my 3×5 card recipes for Schadenfreude Pie I want to bake.
Upgrade rail freight transport.
We lived in downtown Long Beach (1977-2013) just a few blocks from the bridges that pass over the two Ports.
Back then the rail lines were targeted by the State and Health officials.
There were dozens of rial lines and long trains constantly moving containers out of state.
But one type of rail car was the uncovered car and it was cheap to fill those cars with coke dust to move it to the ports for export.
Instead of covering them and thus helping lower the micro-pollution that causes asthma, the trains were phased down to nothing.
CA won’t go back to them.
They solve too many problems quickly.
So, no Joe money to CA.
Sundance is right about everything, but add in that CA causes it’s own problems so it can get more money during Dem administrations.
No, fix the election crimes in California and actually ELECT people with the interests of Californians at heart.
Wow. Great investigative reporting.
I’ll say
A nation full of news outlets and it takes our Sundance to unearth the story
Of course, the rest will assist in the cover-up
As Blade Runner’s little girlfriend says:
“What a day, huh?”
Yes, remember the term “fake news” was created by the fake news to describe EXACTLY what Sundance does.
Astounding how Sundance gets to the heart of the matter, no matter the matter. God Bless Sundance!
Yes I second that. Sundance is priceless for the information he publishes.
If anyone wants to go deeper into this Californica shambles, back on October 8th the Chiefio.wordpress.com/page/2 did a really comprehensive article on this issue. Well worth a read if time permits.
It is headlined “Logistics, California diesel Truckers and you”
It appears there is much more than trucks who are now subject to what is referred to as Tier 4 emissions control of nitrous oxide (NO2) and particulate matter (PM).
It appears Tier 4 regs also now apply to off road engines. These engines could be used in drilling or mixing or any of the myriad of uses of diesel engines.
Those cranes that unload containers? I presume they are diesel powered.
While many of the cranes may well meet the new standard, the loss of any crane would certainly impact the offloading.
CORRECTION: Off road engines have been subject to Tier 4 rules since 2015.
The dock cranes are electric. They have copper rails under the dock and brushes from the cranes ride the rails. As the crane moves along the dock there are steel plates that are lifted by what is called a plow. The area around the plow is covered with what is called a plow cage.
The cranes on the ships run off ship power. In LA I believe most ships have to plug into the dock now and run off shore power. What % plug into the dock now I am not certain. I know at one time it was starting to be a thing.
No. No, they’re not. Unless things have been TOTALLY redone since I ran the LA ports back in ’06, the dock cranes are diesel-electric, just like locomotives.
Pier 400 (Maersk) is like that and has approximately 18 cranes. Pretty sure pier 300 (APL) are also electric. They were both around in 06. Given the Port’s hard line on diesel emissions, I would expect that modified terminals to accommodate new cranes for the larger ships would also be electric.
But back in 06 there were docks that did not have visible electric and on those you are probably right.
Unless I misinterpreted, John Thompson ‘s experience informed that the chains were electric powered, but he electricity was generated on-site with diesel generators, which in turn would run afoul of Cale regulations.
Oops, “cranes” not “chains”
Seeing this must drive you crazy!!
Not only emissions from trucks. AB-5 didn’t affect just Uber and Lift drivers. A lot of owner/operators are lease drivers with 1099 pay. They lease a truck and have their own authority.
Almost sounds like a plan to protect the multinational corporations supply lines, and once again, like Covid did, destroy smaller businesses, including Trucking. No heads up from the big corporations because they want their competition to die. The Reset game is destroy the middle class. It’s working. The middle class needs to ramp up any way we can to create our own infrastructure and circumvent the Globalists. I hope there are people smarter than me who have ideas how we do this!
If you did not watch the Video Sundance posted. It now makes more sense. At another board I frequent a truck driver was telling how he was seeing more ships on the east coast delivering cargo. They have to use the P CANAL. It takes longer. Modern built ships with cranes on the ships.
Big Boys win. The small guys will get crushed.
Diabolical.
Edit:
EVergreen ship blocked the Suez Canal with a huge back up. Test perhaps, or a exercise to find ways to unstick ships quickly if they are grounded in a Canal.
Cranes on the ships is not modern style. That was a multi purpose vessel, not a container ship. Ship cranes cannot accommodate multiple truck lanes. If you are working multiple ship holds, you need a truck lane for each crane to be efficient.
” The Reset game is destroy the middle class. It’s working.”
Agenda 2030/205o for America is centered around a few massive “Urban Corridors”. That means rural, small/mid town. and suburban America have to be choked off, forcing us into corridors – using public transit and limited range alternative fuel vehicles. Restriction of food and fuel outside the corridors will do the trick.
sDee, yeah talked to some friends in Germany this week.
They had an older vehicle, older than ten years. Was hit in the back by a refugee.
1) Can’t have it repaired, government regulation.
2) Can’t purchase another gas or diesel vehicle, Only Electric.
3) These Electric vehicles have a range of 60Km, ~36 miles max one way. Have to remember must have enough juice to get back.
Didn’t realize how crazy everything is becoming.
My thoughts exactly.
It sounds like the emission controls only apply to transport within the POLA / POLB zones.
If that is, in fact, the case, then this statement –
“In an effort to offset the problem, transportation companies started using compliant trucks (low emission) to take the products to the California state line, where they could be transferred to non-compliant trucks who cannot enter California.”
invents a problem that may not exist. It actually sounds like the compliant trucks are only absolutely required to haul goods just past the POLA / POLB zones. Meanwhile, there’s an awful lot of California warehouse space between the Port Authority boundaries and the state’s eastern borders.
There are massive warehouse and storage facilities all across Los Angeles, Ventura, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Orange counties. However, I have also read elsewhere that storage demands exceed capacity across the entire region – that the warehouses are already stuffed to the rafters at 99+ percent of capacity throughout the distribution network.
This entire “shortage” is being manufactured and we are being manipulated, in ways too evil and insidious for me to imagine.
Redline,
At the State lines, I don’t think so. Going Arizona or Using I 40 been awhile since I drove each way out of CA HELL. But not much there. And again all this takes TIME and Money to offload and transfer. Logistically seems crazy to have to do and not cost effective.
Thanks for making the calls SD.
Using battery operated trucks lol.
Folks learn the Laws of THermodynaics. Especially number TWO.
Nothing but Pie in the SKY BS to wreck the country.
“This entire ‘shortage’ is being manufactured.”
We no longer manufacture industrial goods but who can outperform us in the manufacturing of lame excuses and artificial shortages?
The emission control regulations are state wide not just in the immediate port area.
Want another chuckle? It will soon, like before the first of the year, be illegal to purchase a gas powered lawn mower or leaf blower. As I understand existing machines can be used but all new ones have to be electric! Oh, and as of 2035 no internal combustion automobiles.
At 77 it is highly unlikely I will be impacted by a 2035 mandate! The family is slowly leaving California one by one as they reach college age or retirement with no plan to return. Some branches of the family go back over 150 years in this state. Sad.
As it is everywhere, once you get out of the urban areas, the country folks there are just salt of the earth. They are the ones suffering.
Companies had developed Just-in-Time supply chains to minimize inventory levels, cutting the resulting carrying costs, avoiding obsolete-inventory markdowns/write-offs and reducing required warehouse capacity to carry mere DAYS of inventory instead of WEEKS or MONTHS. When semiconductor shortages cropped up, buyers doubled and redoubled and dual-sourced their orders. When supply chain disruptions multiplied across industries they repeated order-quantity multiplication. Suddenly orders for months of inventory for a relative FEW products consumed the warehouse space for ALL the REST with their backed-up shipments of WEEKS of inventory clogging up the entire supply chains back to sources in ChYna. It will take MONTHS of sales to consume the MONTHS of inventory clogging the warehouses and supply chains. Seasonal inventory will become obsolete write-offs. Non-seasonal inventory will become fire-sale markdowns. Stock prices will face massive revenue misses and earnings misses for products without Pricing Power.
Now that Buttigieg is back from its maternity leave, it will figure this all out.
HAHAHA. And Newsom just signed another green bill outlawing small gas engines. Good luck with all them forest fires and no chainsaws you Calif. Dumb F***s! Welcome to Hell!
Now might be a good time to pick up that gas-powered generator you’ve been waiting to get. Takes effect 2024….
https://electrek.co/2021/10/11/california-bans-gas-powered-lawn-equipment-and-other-small-off-road-engines/
There is that reason of course, and also for the reason that our energy grid may not be as ‘consistent’ as we’d like it to be in the upcoming winter.
Californians know a thing or two about rolling blackouts and generators.
I had to buy one big enough to run my refrigerator.
Candles and led light.. a back up..but we’re saving the planet./sarc
Hat-tip, Ad Rem. Generac’s sales and stock price are skyrocketing.
Thanks for the tip BKR! 😀
Nice to be back, and thanks for restoring my access.
Weirdly, the system had been blocking my comments for many months.
You’re the BEST.
Evidence emerged Tuesday that a ship’s anchor snagged
and dragged an underwater pipeline that ruptured
and spilled tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil off Southern California.
… Huge cargo ships regularly cross above the pipeline as they head into the massive Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex..
.
California’s latest offshore oil spill could fuel pressure to end oil production statewide..
Oh, Haven’t you heard about the New Solar Power Chainsaws! ???. Those Cretins In Kalifornia Deserve Each Other!
Can we just kick California out of the USA? I’ve had enough. Maybe they are smoking too much pot. Ya think?
In the book of Judges 19-21, the tribe of Benjamin protects a contingent of Sodomites.
Civil war ensues and the Benjamites are reduced to a handful of men.
As it was to the Benjamites, so be it unto the Californicators.
I’ll lighten your load. Just clear out the first 50 miles along the coast. Problem solved. The rest of California you wouldn’t mind inviting over for Sunday chicken dinner. They will bring desert. To complete the enema you might want to cleanse the Sacramento area also. Though most of that rot is imported from the coast. I have always felt sorry for the folks of the Central Valley (San Joaquin from the South and Sacramento from the North) having that paradigm of Liberalism in the center of an otherwise beautiful area.
same issues in Oregon.
file:///var/mobile/Library/SMS/Attachments/79/09/C02BD3D1-1A14-449A-A6AF-34A912B30905/IMG_6452.jpeg
I hope this posts. If not, I’ll paint a word picture.
In the midst of this epic ?storm, the memes are priceless.
Oh dang. Obviously, something’s wrong.
So, picture Putin and PeePads walking toward each other, right arms extended for handshake. Caption reads:
My name’s Joe but my friends call me Brandon.
?
“[A]ll semi tractors have to be current with new California emissions standards.”
This is delicious. California has deprived forty-seven CONUS sovereign states of their intended purchases. “No soup for you!”
This is dangerous territory for the Californicators to traverse. Someone is likely to get very upset about the Green Grinch who stole Christmas. The revenge will be epic.
California is the pilot program. This is Agenda 2030 – it is coming to us all.
This is significant IMO. Now, emission requirements and fuel types are not solely enforced via new vehicle production regulations. The EPA, DoT and state governments will decide which vehicles can use which transportation systems.
Not much of a leap to restrict passenger gasoline and diesel cars from major roads and facilities too.
I just wrapped up a couple of months of driving in the Southeast, Florida and Texas. Many major interstates have huge construction underway. Nearly all had small signs “Alternative Energy Corridor”. I-10 and I-75 for example, also correspond to Agenda 2030 urban corridors. I also saw some trade corridor signs in the construction zones in Texas and Louisiana.
It is coming at us fast
https://afdc.energy.gov/corridors
List all the alternative energy locations in each state.
Superb job of reporting, not so much because of the considerable effort you put into it; rather it is the initiative to find the facts and honesty in reporting them make this a really good piece.
I could wish death and destruction upon all who are participating in the omerta–the code of silence between a corrupted government and media to hide the truth from the people.
“Omerta” is a great shorthand way to frame the information embargo. Thank you, Sundance, for being our Rudy G!
Yes, they hide EVERYTHING.
Thanks for the information!!!! Great article!!!!
We won’t turn things around by anything other than shooting communists dead. Treeps, we are at war here.
It’s been long planned but as commies do, they possess overconfidence.
They’ve never felt the wrath of a free people. Just like Great Britain and their stamp act. We are going to win, and we will win fast.
Every Communist is a yellow belly bastard. Let the game begin.
That’s right.
The Crimson Kenyan and his minions aren’t going to make the same mistake again by trying to sweet-talk the nation into committing National Suicide all on our own.
They are taking a much more active and aggressive approach this time, taking matter’s into their own maniacal and blood-thirsty hands as it were.
“Fundamental transformation” is a bloody and heartless business. Always has been. It’s in the DNA of the GDC’s.
It’s the crime against humanity AND the COVER-UP.
Sundance:
Great article! I’ve been trying to get my arms around this supply chain issue. Please allow me to add some more flavor.
When California went after Uber, they went after all “independent contractors.” This included owner/operator trucks. California should repeal AB 5.
https://www.overdriveonline.com/business/article/15065269/federal-court-deals-blow-to-california-ownerops-with-ab-5-ruling
The Longshoremen enacted a slowdown on September 20, 2021.
https://www.fleetowner.com/news/article/21662184/ilwu-conducting-slowdown-at-port-of-long-beach?fbclid=IwAR2aSuUmN0c5RUl7VmdVjjJFK8yYFfk7IAaxEBrd539oFYzxMEpfdEceVjg
I understand there are some railroad problems too, but I haven’t looked into that.
The United States ports are regulated by the Federal Government. So are the railroads.
https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/56359243.pdf
https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/safetyfirst/federal-railroad-administration
The EPA can overrule California’s air pollution laws. My father was involved in a lawsuit where he sued the EPA for another state’s air pollution blowing into his state. Because of this they were fining my dad’s state, and his state’s companies. For example, if you know there is a steady easterly wind, Pennsylvania could set up their heavy polluting factories on their state line, and let the pollution blow into New Jersey. This would get New Jersey fined, and prevent them from building industry. After my dad’s lawsuit, they changed the laws. Now the EPA can overrule the states. States cannot use the clean air rules to affect interstate commerce to the detriment of another state. California should be sued and overruled.
https://www.epa.gov/regulatory-information-topic/regulatory-and-guidance-information-topic-air
Andrew Wheeler was Trump’s EPA Administrator who cut the deal with the California Air Resource Board (CARB) to shut down semi tractor rigs that were non-compliant with new California emission standards. Big Mistake!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_R._Wheeler
Treepers, I pounded this out pretty fast. Check me on this information. Thanks.
This is not perchance – it is strategic.
Imagine if you can, a “decarbonized supply chain”. It is not about “green”, it is about population control, urbanization – slavery. It is all laid out in Agenda 2030/2050.
Net Zero is the next phase of the Great Reset. Just another brick in the wall
IceAge Farmer does a good job putting this and more into the context of the UN Agendas.
Excellent video – this video also provides a great reason for why Trump had to lose in 2020 – they really had to get rid of him to stick to their timetable.
Many of us have been stating the EPA issues with the trucks, I did here a few days ago. I used to go out there all the time, but my truck is no longer legal. Many of my friends out there have left CA as it was not worth spending the money to purchase one of these incredibly unreliable EPA trucks with their DPF, SCR and DEF…
Right now we cannot even get NOX sensors or those DEF sensors. Thousands of trucks are sitting, and these sensors are continually in need of replacement, and they ain’t cheap, $300 ea if not more.
Kenworth got a work around with their DEF sensor problems, they contacted the EPA and were allowed to turn it off through programing, as they had thousands of new trucks sitting that they could not sell. Now, when the drivers fuel, they have to fill their DEF tanks with the Urea fluid. If they don’t the truck will derate to 5 mph and a tow truck is then needed, of course, depending upon where you are.
Many of us are sitting at home or working casually. I have a few buddies that are in the shop in need of repairs, and there are no parts available for even simple things like brakes and suspension parts.
We all drive older equipment, all of our equipment is paid for, but none of us can go to California.
There is no real freight going out there anyway, all of those businesses are long gone that we used to supply or have contracts with from the midwest. So, there is really no reason to go to California, even if you have a truck that meets their standards.
Then the other ugly issues with going West, and this includes OR and WA… The DOT, the roads, the 55mph speed limit (CA), no idling, no APU use unless it has all of the pollution crap on it, the price of fuel, the lack of parking… I could keep going, but I think you get the picture…
Let the containers sit, very few if any of us are going to go there, no matter what it pays coming out. It is simply not worth it.
I get the picture – arrgh. It truly is the Fabian model Sundance reminds us of – America must be collapsed to be reshaped.
Trust me, Sundance has been spot on with everything he has stated from where I sit and my experience. He is the only one out here getting it right.
Sad!
It is very sad, and then to add insult to injury they will simply flood the trucking industry with these new illegals pouring across our borders. Cut the rates again, along with pay, and we are right back to where we were, broke or hanging on by a thread to ride out another miserable industry cycle.
Pet Peeve: Please take the time to write out acronyms so others do not have to work so hard to read what you wrote. Thanks.
DPF = Diesel Particulate Filter
SCR = Selective Catalytic Reduction
DEF = Diesel Exhaust Fluid (adds urea to increase efficiency)
NOX = Nitrous Oxides (a pollutant caused when oxygen combines with oxygen in a hot engine)
APU = Auxiliary Power Unit (a small, efficient motor that is capable of producing the power needed to keep the air/heat running, interior appliance power, etc without the need to run the truck’s engine)
Great article by the way. Thanks!
I apologize, I was half awake and not in the greatest shape right now… I just reread what I posted and thought, “I wrote that?”… A fellow trucker would understand, my mother’s eyes would glaze over. Point taken. 😉
Good job driver. I understood every word. I don’t haul freight and never will. Staying in construction.
That is where I have my eyes set… Going out one last time in a few weeks… Pay off some debt and go back in to the local handyman business… Tired of the insanity out here.
GREAT article! Very informative!!
Here’s a quick five word summary of the entire unmitigated fiasco which IS going to result in a Force-5 sideways shit-storm that will be sweeping the country in very short order –
“Everything woke turns to shit.”
When the fakedemic hit what did they do. THEY shut down the small businesses mom and pop hardware etc etc. Who was granted the right to stay open.
HOME DEPOT LOWES, WALLY WORLD etc etc. all major suppliers. AMAZON took it in stride. Now we know why. Fake lumber shortage, prices jumped. BlackRock and Vanguard etc started buying used houses, because building new became prohibitive. Fed is going to raise rates, when, they claim in six months or so. Then home buying will go ka BOOM.
DID YOU WATCH THE SHIPPING VIDEO. you bots can ignore that ;).
Another housing market crash. Just in time for another Covid lockdown, a mail in ballot blast in the millions, and the 2022 mid terms.
The only tweets I have set to notify me are from Sundance (@TheLastRefuge2) I haven’t received one tweet in 4 days. Was wondering why until I read this brilliant article. I do hope the tweets resume, I really miss them.
Oh, & SCREW California & FJB!
Not on Twitter but I read on yesterday’s main thread that SD was in a two week suspension. Likely why you’ve not seen any postings from him recently.
Thanks for the heads up.
Matthew Kaminski
@KaminskiMK
They didn’t previously announce it, but Buttigieg’s office told West Wing Playbook that the secretary has actually been on paid leave since mid-August to spend time with his husband, Chasten, and their two newborn babies.
Tucker noted this tonight and wryly suggested it was to “learn how to breastfeed”
California’s unyielding Stalinist style environmental regulations may soon start killing people. Good going there Greenies.
Los Angeles Times tonight:
No timetable yet for Port of LA’s 24/7 operations, but talks ramping up, officials say! LOL
Video out today from a Longshoreman showing the docks stacked with containers!
Eye opening view.
https://t.me/TheTrumpist/5630
Wait…why was this implemented with the EPA in 2000 under Pres. Trump?
A huge amount of intermodal containers, probably the majority, go from ships directly to railroads. Trains magazine devotes a long article in their current issue to logjams at intermodal rail yards across the country. They attribute the logjams in part to a shortage of trucks and drivers to pick up the containers in the yards for local distribution.
You don’t mention the railroads. And most of the intermodal yards are outside of California. So there is clearly more to the logjam than just the CA pollution rules.
That was my first thought on reading this article.
You still need trucks to get the containers to the rail yard… The rail yards are another issue, in many cases depending on where, are just as bas as LA and LB ports.
“Everyone is so focused on Los Angeles/Long Beach that the other ports are getting passes,” he said. “Savannah is a mess, New York/New Jersey ports are a mess and I think every port is probably struggling with congestion, but with the new benchmarks at LA/LB, NY/NJ and Savannah, they don’t seem so bad in comparison. So now, ‘our dwell times are just five days’ has become a rallying cry of sorts.”
https://lgi.laufer.com/news/us-east-coast-ports-backed-up-as-congestion-spreads/
This is where I hope things are going, but [think: Herrod’s murder of the infants], this company appears to be at some risk.
They’ve had to sell to survive, but this technology is, to my mind, one hopeful answer to dealing with what’s to come. And given the evil sweeping American businesses, it was a sweet surprise to read there’ll be a 2022 model.
This technology needs to grow, American style.
President Trump toured this plant and praised the business. It’s easy to see why. That’s how I first learned about this truck. I’m excited about it.
We’ve seen discussions upthread mentioning Ayn Rand, and as I write this post I’m suddenly reminded of the scenes of devolution in Atlas Shrugged, the plants closed and everything rationed, and people hungry and ignorant, while the prototype for the new motor that would have saved the automobile plants and lifted them all into prosperity sat unused on a design engineer’s bench. Pretty soon the lights went out in New York and a new dark age began.
In the end some folks made it to Galt’s Gulch, where the new technology and intelligent reason were in use, so life went on there and a new community was born, but elsewhere most folks were resigned to just walking around in the growing dark, asking “Who is John Galt?” while getting hungrier and less able to figure out what was happening to them.
~shiver~
Anyway, I hope you like the Endurance as much as I do. I even like its name. God knows we need every tool we can lay hands on to endure this war on us and our nation.
https://www.lordstownmotors.com/pages/endurance
RAPE, PILLAGE, PLUNDER; AMERICA YOU’VE BEEN HAD!
This article is just another example of what’s happening in America that reinforces the confessions/lessons learned first presented in 1989 to the citizens of an old soldier/cop’s community while he was serving as their police chief. The only real change in all the years since 1989 is that the average American is even more the victim of the barrages of propaganda being blasted on them by real time communications systems and the actions of corrupt/incompetent politicians, academicians, bureaucrats, and the media. Each group bent on driving the masses into nothing short of a world wide feudal system.
Soldier/Cop/Mercenary, Retired
CONFESSION/LESSONS LEARNED BY AN OLD SOLDIER/COP/MERCENARY.
In light of all the activities of the “Left/Progressives” and many other groups seemingly bent on destroying everything we cops and soldiers have/are ‘supposedly’ spent/spending ours careers and in far too many cases giving/gave our lives defending, can you guess which of the following confession/lessons learned were first presented to the public in 1989 by a soldier/cop/mercenary following 26 years in the army and in his third year as a civilian police chief?
A Soldier/Cop/Mercenary’s Confession/Lessons Learned
*Soldiers (ground combat soldiers, that is) do not fight first and foremost for their country, the flag, motherhood, girls back home, nor apple pie! Before all else, soldiers engaged in ground combat fight for their fellow soldiers and their unit. Why? Because in every war/police action/whatever including WWII the strategies and tactics adopted by mostly incompetent/corrupt military and civilian managers (notice I said mangers not leaders) were designed to maximize the profits of the military/industrial/political complex with little regard for the those personnel charged with employing the same. In short, the American soldier has been nothing more than a “mercenary” since 1969 with the creation of the “All Volunteer Army (VOLAR).
*The Seven C’s of Leadership according to a survey of 1646 Vietnam era ground combat veterans listed of the order of their importance (according to the vets) are; Candor, Competence, Consistency, Commitment, Courage, Compassion, and Courtesy. The reason the soldiers in the survey chose the word “candor” is because to them candor encompasses both omission and co-mission. To a combat soldier lack of absolute candor, be it co-mission or omission, are equal sins! In short, soldiers expect/demand absolute candor from their leaders before all else. Note: The democrats have proven they are masters of co-mission, while republicans have proven they are masters of omission!
* The American people are the most effectively lied to people in modern times thanks primarily to politicians, bureaucrats, academicians, and the media.
* Arrogance plus ignorance equals stupidity (A + I = S).
* The greatest threats to the American people are the corrupt and/or incompetent politicians/bureaucrats/academicians found at every level of government/academia, and the majority of the American so-called media.
* Most of the politicians, bureaucrats, academicians, and media types I have encountered during my years as a soldier/cop/mercenary I most kindly refer to as; self-serving, witless, cowards. Note: I originally refereed to the aforementioned folks as; “Self-serving, witless, cowardly, pissants!” After retiring to the deep woods I dropped pissants once becoming acquainted with the little guys; in that I learned pissants are not self-serving nor witless, and certainly not cowards!
* The American Profession of Arms and our brothers/sisters in the Blue have failed to protect the American people from all of their enemies, both foreign and ‘most especially’ domestic.
* There are only two primary requirements to be a career soldier and/or cop in America. One must be smart enough to do the work and dumb enough to take the job.
* American soldiers and police officers must in addition to mastering all of their professionally mandated tasks learn to accomplish the same with at least one arm tied behind their backs and their vision impaired 50% or more.
* After carefully watching the whole of the political class since May of 1960, I can say without reservation that most of the group will sell their souls and our bodies just to remain in power.
* Want to see what the United States of America will look like if the left takes control of the government? Take your pick: New York City, Baltimore, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, or the complete packages; California, New York, Illinois, etc, etc, etc…..
* If the so-called Progressive movement continues unchecked a number of able veterans are going to be presented with a challenge/decision. Are the American people worth another drop of our sweat and/or our blood?
* The end goal of the elites and their minions is not (nor ever has been) socialism, communism, or capitalism. The elites of world have used all manner of ideologies, religions, terrorism, brute force, etc. to drive the masses/peasants/serfs/whatever in one direction. That direction leads to one of the oldest forms of human control ever employed in the history of mankind. That form of human control is, Feudalism!
Soldier/Cop/Mercenary, Retired
RE “Take your pick” of cities:
Earlier Treeper Post:
“I had the misfortune of living in Argentina in 1984 during an incredible hyperinflation period. The inflation raged at 1,000% annually. Prices of food and fuel and everything else surged during the day. If you bought an apple in the morning for 50 cents, you would pay 75 cents in the afternoon. Imagine you are a small business owner having to constantly (I mean every couple of hours) re-price your merchandise. It is a nightmare.”
• Virtually every [Blue] City no longer apprehends people for shoplifting.
• They release those arrested for felonies.
RESULT: EVERY small business in cities will be relentlessly looted in broad daylight until they go bankrupt.
The ports already operate 24×7 according to a friend of a friend who is a crane operator in Los Angeles.
Yes it is hard to imagine that they are not already operating 24X7 especially considering the growing automation at the ports.
The real issue, and it is true in every port, be it rail or ship, are the lack of chassis to set the container no to haul it out. I’ve done this work, and I would waste more time trying to find a road worthy chassis than any of this was worth. You could be there in these ports for hours, all unpaid just F’n around trying to do your job. If they don’t supply the tools as agreed upon, why even make an attempt?
“Yes, years ago the private sector predicted this would happen, and they started taking actions to protect their supply chains. ”
“Years ago.” OK, I have a question: If this has been in the works for several years, and big retailers have known about it and taken appropriate steps to reroute their shipments, then why did big trucking companies that pick up at the California ports not ALSO take action to address it by replacing the engines and exhaust systems in their trucks with California regulation compliant engines? Did they just sit on their hands and hope this day would never arrive?
Maybe the word ‘predicted” is could be a Substitute (perhaps) for Co-ordinated. Things don’t line up (imo) this well unless it is very well planned out. Years in the making.
Predictions are a part of planning the outcome.
The regulations are new/recent, the cost of upgrades and or new engines, trucks is cost prohibitive. And how do you know those at the top of the trucking companies did not know.
If you don’t know the secret handshake or the hidden crypto you ain’t in the big club.
Of course someTimes the best laid plans do meet a black swan.
This is a painful subject for many… I know many that went bankrupt in those years, through no fault of their own… It was incredibly ugly, and still is with these emission trucks.
Let’s start with the pay to move a container for the average owner operator, this is what we call cheap freight, very cheap freight, so to make money hauling this garbage, you need to keep expenses and costs low. The rates for years have consistently been in that $1 to $1.50 range, that is about what they pay in the Detroit and Chicago markets right now. Most of this freight is short haul, add in fuel and expenses like maintenance, wasted time at the ports with no pay… There ain’t much left at the end of the day. But, guys made enough money and they were home at night, and that is what was most important to many working these ports.
Alright, we all knew these emission regulations were coming back in the mid 2000’s… The exodus from CA began back in 2008, most moved to NV, AZ, TX, etc… Here is how it went down…
These new emission trucks are very expensive, and even more expensive to maintain. A pre 2004 day cab, no sleeper, could be had for around $50,000. That same day cab is now $100,000+. These older pre emission trucks were easy to maintain, parts were plentiful and they were inexpensive to own and operate. Under normal operation, they were rarely ever down, and if they were, it was not for long, not like today where one can spend months in a shop for the stupidest of things. You could easily operate one of these trucks to well past one million miles if you maintained it properly and did not abuse it…
Fast forward to today, these new incredibly expensive trucks will be at the end of their life cycle anywhere between 300,000 – 600,000 miles. Rarely do they make it past 600,000 with out needing a complete emissions or engine rebuild. To repair the emissions or rebuild the motor, look for a cost of $10,000 to $60,000, depending on which shop it lands in…
And the kicker is, most shops do not know how to properly work on the emissions, or much less how to properly rebuild one of these motors, it is not uncommon to have to rebuild again in a year or two. Happened to me. I rebuilt my motor myself that second time, I did it in the drive way, that was four or five years ago…
My first rebuild lasted all of 70,000 miles, so less than a year. That was $39,000 out the window. The same can be said with the emission systems, which is just a bottomless pit of expenses. You may as well burn your money when the truck gets passed 300,000 miles, which can be accumulated in a short period of time, two to three years, and this is a $130,000 to $200,000 purchase… Imagine rebuilding your house every three years? That is what they ask us to do. I was able to reprogram my truck back in 2012, so emissions have not been an issue.
Back to 2008, the first real year for EPA trucks, Diesel Particulate, Diesel Oxidation Catalyst filters and Exhaust Gas Recirculation valves. Ok, back when the CA government required these filters a retrofit was roughly $30,000+/-, and we knew this was only a stop gap measure, as the state of CA had already announced just that, they were going to move the goal post on us again, and they did. The state had a fund to assist in these retrofits, but most of that money went to the big outfits, and the little guy like myself was left holding the bag. Some guys upgraded their trucks, other bought new ones and many many more simply left CA for greener pastures.
This is an unending cycle with CA, it seems every year they go out of their way to disrupt the trucking industry, and they love to pass out fines… So, why go or even stay in the state? Everyone I know personally fled the stat of CA years ago, and have never gone back, I do not know of any of us that have been back there since scratching it off our go to lists. Let them starve is my moto, you will find this sentiment across the board in regards to CA. Sad too, I used to spend a lot of time out there, it used to be a beautiful state. Now, it is a third world shit hole on so many levels. I was last there in 2006, I had a regular run from Detroit to San Diego, where I had friends. They left in 2007 for Florida… And yes, they love Trump.
I hope this helps to explain this insanity.
California is run by spoiled rich kids. They have no idea where the vast wealth they inherited came from, and they don’t think it will ever end. It’s a state of trust fund kids, blowing their family fortune on frivolous spending while neglecting the business that produced it. California will be a poor state before long. Businesses are fleeing in droves, and they are determined to drive even more out.
All for the sake of a fantasy. Egged on by China, of course. Offshore all those businesses! Shut down those industries! At least the latte sippers in the Bay Area and Hollywood will feel good about themselves for saving the planet, by destroying their neighbor’s livelihood and sending millions into poverty.
Very true, the inmates are running the asylum… I used to haul produce out of CA in the early 90’s and loved it. Then I started flat bedding out there… But one day, all of those businesses were gone, literally overnight. The same happened here in Michigan when Obama came in, I found myself emptying manufacturing plants to be shipped to China and Mexico, from the Big 3 to the smallest mom and pops… One day I woke up, and everyone was gone… I see it happening again, this time on a macro level, and the businesses are not moving this time, they are gone for good.
Thanks Sundance -great reporting and now I have the answer to my question regarding whether out-of-state trucks can load /unload at our ports.
It will be interesting to watch what happens as time goes by. I live in Long Beach. I wonder how much it’ll affect our city’s coffers if the Port starts losing money. As it is, our democrat mayor/ city council concentrate their lavish attention to the downtown area while the rest of us are having to swerve around potholes in our neighborhoods.
So the work goes to illegal Mexicans who don’t need a CDL and are allowed to drive non-compliant, polluting trucks. Got it.
I found this interesting video from two years ago showing the automation that was beginning at the Port of Los Angeles. I don’t know how much automation has progressed since then. As noted some ports like Amsterdam are almost fully automated including the operation of the large gantry cranes. If the ports are already highly automated I don’t understand why they are not running 24/7 already
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkauiGYT6YY.
I don’t know to what degree a shortage of trucks is having on the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach if any. Most if not all containers are put onto freight trains where they are moved out of the port along the Alameda corridor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alameda_Corridor
From the Alameda corridor the trains fan-out across North America. The containers are off-loaded at major centers, e.g. Chicago, where they are put onto Trucks for transportation to other regional distribution centers in the case of LCL (Less than container load) – or directly to customers in the case of FCL (Full container load)
Chicago is a mess right now with containers. I heard through the grapevine the other day one of the larger rail ports had a 25 mile back up of trucks waiting to get in…
Our issue is chassis to put the containers on, and I can tell you from experience there are few road worthy chassis trailers in these ports. They hire third party vendors to maintain them, and they hire the lowest bidder and least qualified outfits to do this very important work of maintaining these chassis.
I was speaking to one of the guys in one of the many Chicago ports, he said the rail yard hadn’t paid them in months… The crane operator I was working with one night explained it was the same for the outside vendors that keep the cranes and fork lifts in operation, they will only send a mechanic out after the money has been wired to their bank account. I don’t know… First hand on the street info, do with it what you will. I would imagine it is a hundred times worse today. And they did not pay these guys much, it was pretty bad for the work entailed.
With the coming economic storm in China and its resulting halt in imports the huge number of containers entering the US will serve quite nicely as eco friendly housing for our urban dwelling friends.
East St Louis on Steroids…
Would it, or could it, be cheaper to go via Tijuana and Arizona into the interior?
There are definitely highways from Tijuana to Yuma, Arizona and on to the interior.
Could this be done?
There were plans to build a Mega port in the Baja, but I believe it was nixed. They would have ran circles around LA and LB…
How does this explain delays at East Coast and Southern ports?
No matter what there is a shortage of drivers.
Rail vs Truck.
I found this paper which discusses this and their benefits, cost, etc.
https://publications.anl.gov/anlpubs/2017/08/137467.pdf
Trucks still rule it seems for many reasons. Some freight has a Time issue and trucks are faster, more expensive but faster.
Walmart Lowes Home depot etc all depend on JIT shipping Just in Time.
I talked to a buddy of mine two days ago, he was physically in the port of Mobile AL when we were texting. He said all was running smooth there, no backups or waiting, in and out… Savanah from my understanding was surprised with a few ships that normally would be in Long Beach, I don’t know what the real situation on the ground there is, but despite reports, I don’t see any congestion lasting long down there as long as they have the chassis available to haul the containers out.
My guess, the OTHER ports are bottlenecked offloading cargo as freight diverted from California crowds into their harbors. Those California ports are huge, the capacity the fools in Sacramento choked off isn’t easily absorbed by other ports. Not to mention, it’s a much longer and more expensive trip.
The Trucking industry is a HUGE Capital Low Margin Business. Over the past several years we have ALL seen MAJOR LTL and other national Trucking Companies shut their doors. Add in trying to find qualified drivers who can pass a physical and drug test, and couple that further with the Reduction in their Incomes due to Electronic Logging Devices and you have a MAJOR Problem in America. 1000% CAUSED by Government!
The Electronic Log cost me 30% off my NET income. I no longer work much, honestly cannot afford to go out. That 30% was my motivation…
The Grinch who stole Christmas was green too. If kids don’t get toys because ships are stranded at sea with boatloads of toys, green will be the culprit.
The ships will eventually go elsewhere, the trucks will follow. Let KALI whither on the vine, so to speak.
Oregon and Washington, you’re up!
We have this thing called “Winter” up there… Coming across I-80 to the midwest is a dance with the devil, as few drivers are equipped or skilled enough to manage a winter crossing. Go to YouTube and type in I-80 crashes… It never used to be like this, but we never had so many non English speaking folks driving so many trucks… Most are from Eastern Europe and Africa… Go watch the Russian truck crash videos, they cannot even drive on dry pavement, same with the Indians we have over here… Disgusting.
Back in the day when English was the first language out here, we used to use the CB Radio to stay in contact across roads like this, we looked out for each other with warnings regarding accidents and road conditions, that no longer happens. I went across the entire state of Wyoming two years ago and never had my radio break the squelch, and this was in the winter. Not worth it anymore, no matter how good the freight is paying, let the foreigners have it.
Amazing to watch the sub-morons who run California continue to squander their vast inheritance chasing unicorns. The Golden State was built up and made fabulously wealthy by their grandparents and great-grandparents. The dissipated generations that follow have been steadily tearing it down and frittering it away because they grew up accustomed to reaping in a garden they did not sow, and they don’t think the good times will ever end.
They will. And they are. Pissing away the commerce through those ports in service to the climate change myth is but the latest example. In the drought-plagued state that is blowing up dams and draining reservoirs for the sake of minnows while farms and cities suffer water shortages.
Par for the course.
What do I care if junk coming from China either gets delayed or costs more for Amazon to import?
It is when WE have nothing to lose that they will have everything to lose. No matter how passive anyone thinks we are, there will be a boiling point at which people will collectively rise up against this. This will be WWIII and I have a sneaking suspicion that it is just around the corner.
Petey and Joey talking to the heads of the shipping industry. That is funny stuff, now I have to clean my keyboard from spitting my coffee out from the laughter.
Great reporting, Sundance.
Besides the emissions legislation in CA, the AB5 legislation that was overturned by a federal judge this past summer is also having a chilling effect.
Most of the truck drivers are independent contractors and do not want to be employees. They also do not want to be unionized and the Teamsters are making it difficult for independents to do business in CA.
Add to that, the 30% rise in diesel fuel and you have the perfect storm. Not surprisingly, this storm has been brewing since June and has been ignored by the Biden administration until this past week – and only then because people are forcing it.
See, this is called journalism. Don’t just repeat what the government spoon feeds their mouthpieces in the media. Ask the tough questions. Ask the obvious questions that require work to get the answers.
The biggie is: Why is this only happening in Las Angeles?
The easy answer is, because 50% of all goods from Asia come through that port.
Now the hard question: That’s been the case even during the booming Trump years. Now, why is it only happening in California and WHY NOW?
The easy answer then is, Because, because, you know, Covid!
Thank you for your blatant act of journalism in asking the question here: Doesn’t it really have more to do with your Greenie policies limiting the available trucks to empty the port? The answer is……crickets.
Good job.
The emissions law was stupid when it passed in 2010, yet they gave the industry 10 years to adjust. I’m surprised no one has built a container port down in Ensenada, BC, MX yet. Missed capitalist opportunities.