Backup at Panama Canal

[JohnDB]

I'm sure everyone remembers the Evergreen clogging up the Suez Canal....

40% of all US goods go through the Panama canal. Now, because of drought, shipping is getting difficult and is going to be delayed. This isn't going away anytime soon. Panama needs a lot of rain and soon.
(The canal is not operated by sea water but by a lake)

'This is going to get worse before it gets better': Panama Canal pileup due to drought reaches 154 vessels

Ongoing drought conditions and Panama Canal restrictions due to lower water levels are causing massive shipping congestion at the key trade gateway.

www.cnbc.com

 

[Bleipriester]

Water = Anti-American enemy of freedom.

 

[Biff_Poindexter]

Why isn't Biden doing anything about this?

How did he allow the water levels at the canal to get so low?

And what did Antifa know about this?

 

[wamose]

And here I was thinking it was backing up because the Chinese traffic police screwed it up (Chinese fire drill). This scenario is much worse. But this whole thing could turn into a blessing if it encourages us to bring production back to the US, where it belongs.

 

[JohnDB]

Most shippers prefer East coast ports in the gulf and Eastern seaboard than West Coast ports....cheaper and more efficient and less likely to have cargo "lost" in port.

 

[JGalt]

Why isn't Biden doing anything about this?

How did he allow the water levels at the canal to get so low?

And what did Antifa know about this?

You're close. It was Jimmy Carter who negotiated the deal to give the canal back to Panama, and the transfer of ownership too place in 1999, under Bill Clinton. Panama hasn't really dredged and improved the canal as well as it would have been, had we kept it.

So as usual, the problem is just one more failure and more unintended consequences that can be attributed to Democrats.

 

[Biff_Poindexter]

And here I was thinking it was backing up because the Chinese traffic police screwed it up (Chinese fire drill). This scenario is much worse. But this whole thing could turn into a blessing if it encourages us to bring production back to the US, where it belongs.

the supply chain is global -- isolationism may work for a foreign policy -- but not for capitalism.....


Are you saying you are against capitalism now?

 

[JohnDB]

the supply chain is global -- isolationism may work for a foreign policy -- but not for capitalism

Before Covid and the rail freight merger goods and fresh agricultural products could be shipped from anywhere to anywhere inside of ten days.

An Orange picked in South Africa could be on a break table at an office in Georgia in ten days. That's the way things used to work.

But then....covid broke out and the rail lines in America were allowed to merge into a single huge company....and chaos now reigns Supreme.

 

[wamose]

the supply chain is global -- isolationism may work for a foreign policy -- but not for capitalism.....


Are you saying you are against capitalism now?

Limited free trade is OK but what we have done is create new slave markets in foreign countries. Big corporate slavers like Apple, GE and so many others love this setup where they get their slave labor and can still play dumb about it since it's not done in the US. Free trade hurts the American worker and also our national security. Protectionism is good.

 

[JohnDB]

Limited free trade is OK but what we have done is create new slave markets in foreign countries. Big corporate slavers like Apple, GE and so many others love this setup where they get their slave labor and can still play dumb about it since it's not done in the US. Free trade hurts the American worker and also our national security. Protectionism is good.

American labor is extremely expensive by comparison with everywhere else in the world. Most of the world has a benchmark of the equivalent of $12k/yr as a great salary. Which is really pathetic wages in the US. Also land valuations and EPA regulations are higher in the US than elsewhere.
A manufacturing plant in the US requires a LOT of robotics to get a price affordable against foreign competitors....which means a huge amount of investment dollars in facilities and equipment and maintenance costs...as well as the tech personnel to do the maintenance is not going to be cheap either.
None of these costs exist elsewhere. So American companies put manufacturing plants elsewhere in the world and produce the same widgets for pennies compared to the Benjamin's it costs here to produce the same widget. If cargo gets stolen? No big deal...if a bunch of them are junk? Test them to pick out the ones which are good and if it's only 20 out of a thousand you are still making a profit over the costs in the USA.

 

[wamose]

Protecting the American worker means levying tariffs on imports from these slave labor countries. Protectionism is good. Protecting the American worker is the only way to maintain our status as the worlds greatest market. That's something we need to fight to preserve. Free trade will eventually end up with the US citizens being piss poor and the whole country being run by 20 corporations and the oligarchs they spawned. MAGA

 

[JohnDB]

Protecting the American worker means levying tariffs on imports from these slave labor countries. Protectionism is good. Protecting the American worker is the only way to maintain our status as the worlds greatest market. That's something we need to fight to preserve. Free trade will eventually end up with the US citizens being piss poor and the whole country being run by 20 corporations and the oligarchs they spawned. MAGA

So....
How much do you want to pay for a pair of sneakers?

I'm talking about the cheap ones at Walmart....not the good ones at GoodFeet store.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

Before Covid and the rail freight merger goods and fresh agricultural products could be shipped from anywhere to anywhere inside of ten days.

An Orange picked in South Africa could be on a break table at an office in Georgia in ten days. That's the way things used to work.

But then....covid broke out and the rail lines in America were allowed to merge into a single huge company....and chaos now reigns Supreme.

Wrong answer.

 

[JohnDB]

Wrong answer.

I'm sorry you don't like my answer and characterization of events.

But the backup of cargo at the docks was obvious. Ships were waiting to get unloaded but there was no room to unload them. The freight trains that haul away the lion's share of cargo from the docks were MIA. The tracks were full but no one was driving them anywhere.

What do you want?
That's the scene....lots of others seen the exact same thing. West coast is the worst for 18 wheelers....most owner operators won't cross the CA state line. Few large carriers will either.
So most truck drivers will pick up at the CA border in various locations if they have to. But the trains weren't running.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

I'm sorry you don't like my answer and characterization of events.

But the backup of cargo at the docks was obvious. Ships were waiting to get unloaded but there was no room to unload them. The freight trains that haul away the lion's share of cargo from the docks were MIA. The tracks were full but no one was driving them anywhere.

What do you want?
That's the scene....lots of others seen the exact same thing. West coast is the worst for 18 wheelers....most owner operators won't cross the CA state line. Few large carriers will either.
So most truck drivers will pick up at the CA border in various locations if they have to. But the trains weren't running.

Are you THAT stupid?

You said, "the rail lines in America were allowed to merge into a single huge company." That is NOT true, so STFU!

You cannot read your own posts?

 

[initforme]

Pay the workers more and things go better.

 

[JohnDB]

Are you THAT stupid?

You said, "the rail lines in America were allowed to merge into a single huge company." That is NOT true, so STFU!

You cannot read your own posts?

I played the merger in the market....didn't make much of anything because the verdict from the Federal court was leaked rather extensively before I jumped in. (anti-trust/monopoly case)

Freight in the US and Canada is now one big conglomerate of railroad companies.
Commuter rail is the only thing separate.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

Pay the workers more and things go better.

Learn to quote old timer. It will help everyone to know to what you are talking about.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

I played the merger in the market....didn't make much of anything because the verdict from the Federal court was leaked rather extensively before I jumped in. (anti-trust/monopoly case)

Freight in the US and Canada is now one big conglomerate of railroad companies.
Commuter rail is the only thing separate.

You should be able to provide a link.

 

[JohnDB]

You should be able to provide a link.

After Controversial Freight Rail Merger Approved, Northwest Suburban Communities Weigh Next Steps

Federal regulators just approved a merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern, with Chicago as part of the route linking Mexico, the U.S. and Canada.

news.wttw.com