Cargo ships Are Backed Up Along U.S. Shores, Causing Shortages

off the coast of los angeles the reason you're paying more for everyday items and perhaps struggling to find some in the store a vital parking lot in the pacific container ships mostly from asia stretching across the horizon get an up-close view we rode along with l.a port police marine 12. it didn't take long the radar suddenly filled with ships that's it right here they're they're right outside the outer harbor 76 ships waiting for up to 10 days each to enter the port of los angeles or nearby long beach everywhere you look there's a ship just sitting out here in the water and 500 thousand containers but this is just one component of the stretched global supply chain that runs from asian manufacturers across the pacific to american consumers now backed up and bottlenecked jean soroka runs the port of los angeles america's biggest how many ships a day now are coming in here in the last month and a half we're averaging 18 ships a day that's nearly double the number that arrived daily before the pandemic making matters worse there aren't enough truck drivers to take the goods from the docks to the nation's stores the american importer cannot digest all of this cargo into their domestic supply chains 50 of all truckers licensed to do business at the ports no longer come here hired away by internet and big chain retailers it's not just california new york's ports are also backed up and leading to a shortage of everything from electronics to toys to cars and car parts building materials clothing and sending prices higher a lot of those holiday gifts you're hoping to give right now may be stuck sitting out here on the water the question is whether they're going to be offloaded out of those massive containers onto the trucks onto the rail lines into your local store in time for the holidays so the books not showing up in time or showing up one at a time would affect us greatly ashlyn kristoff owns serendipity and muse house retreat gift shops in studio city now hoping her orders arrive in time for the holidays what we were being quoted was four to six weeks turnaround time but some of the orders that i had placed earlier in the year i still have yet to see her own supply chain now backed up into the pacific yeah so the bottom line here according to the experts if you're thinking about holiday gifts you should start probably ordering now don't wait till thanksgiving don't wait until the run-up to christmas and hanukkah order now because there may not be enough when it actually comes time for the holidays they may be stuck right out there guys back to you yeah tell that it was a fascinating first hand look there really quickly how long do experts think this is going to go on yeah the director of the port of los angeles thinks this is going to extend well into next year maybe into the second or third quarter and oh by the way this is a sign of how well the economy is doing right consumer demand is exploding but there aren't enough truck drivers so by the way there are a lot of job openings right now for qualified truck drivers across the country to get stuff off the docks and to stores near you tom costello for us this morning off the coast of california tom thank you time to get that artificial christmas tree if that's what you like it's time to buy it hey thanks for watching our youtube channel find your favorite recipes celebrity interviews uplifting stories shop our favorite deals and so much more with the today app download it now

Channel: TODAY

Views: 814,080

Keywords: Al Roker, Entertainment, Food, Hoda Kotb, International News, Money, Natalie Morales, Savannah Gutherie, Sports, Style, Today, Today Show, breaking news, concerts, domestic news, health, home, interviews, media, parents, pets, politics, shopping, weather

Id: QccPG6LfmEs

Length: 3min 44sec (224 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 06 2021