Lilly & Associates a multinational logistics services company headquartered in Miami, Florida, joins shipping community in urging port labor resolution.
With negotiations between the International Longshoremen’s Association and the United States Maritime Alliance, Ltd. set to resume next week, Lilly & Associates International strongly urges a resolution of their contract agreement prior to the September 30 deadline.
“A resolution between the two sides is extremely important for shippers. Without an agreement, the adverse effects on the national and global economy will be extremely dire. It is in the best interest for both parties at the negotiating table to facilitate the movement of goods at East and Gulf Coast ports prior to the holiday season,” said Lilly & Associates International Business Development Manager Nelson R. Cabrera.
Lilly & Associates International’s client’s, which include importers and exporters across the United States, are redirecting goods to West Coast ports in preparation for a looming shutdown of East and Gulf Coast ports after September 30. Costly ocean freight reroutes, coupled with excessive congestion surcharges in excess of $800 USD per 20 foot container, are especially devastating for shipper’s slim margins during this economic recession.
“The burden that the struggling negotiations place on the shipping community cannot be emphasized enough. The increased congestion at West Coast ports will result in a chaotic bottleneck affecting the flow of goods in and out of the United States at the height of the shipping peak season,” said Cabrera. “This places an enormous hurdle in the increasingly lean supply chains of our nation’s importers and exporters.”