Following a record-breaking flow of international container freight into US ports in the second half of 2020, fueled by a surge in online spending, the import waves in 2021 continued to shape the intermodal supply chain. Increased consumer spending on goods, rather than services and travel, led to rising import volumes. This created challenges across the supply chain.
Port congestion slowed pickups and deliveries, containers piled up at terminals, and distribution centers and warehouses struggled to unload cargo, creating an artificial chassis shortage.
To alleviate the pressure, TRAC Intermodal continues to expand and modernize our chassis fleet — building on a 20 percent year-over-year increase in 2021 — actively reposition chassis to critical pinch-point locations, and work with our labor and vendor partners to reduce out-of-service units, outperforming the record low numbers we saw in 2021.
The last two years have taught the freight transportation industry that global trade continues to evolve. The COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a standstill and slowed the movement of goods, but not the appetite for consumption. E-commerce drove ever-higher retail sales, and when suppliers increased their output, record volumes arrived at the ports and the backlog began to grow.
Through the collaboration of key stakeholders, the market will correct itself, and these supply chain challenges will lead to innovation and effective solutions. TRAC is actively working alongside all our supply chain colleagues in both industry and government-led group efforts designed to build out, develop, and implement such ideas.
Finally, a massive thank you to all the front-line workers in the entire US supply chain. In the teeth of a global pandemic, they turned up every day, doing their best to deliver.
We’re eager to charge into 2022, and the future is bright.