I was talking to Tom Andel over at Material Handling & Logistics the other day. He asked me about the impact of the West Coast port strikes. Luckily, the strikes are now over and thousands are back at work moving cargo.
But this situation should have everyone thinking about what actions can be taken to prevent and work around future strikes.

This eight-day strike that closed 70% of the capacity of the Los Angles and Long Beach ports was a serious issue. Although it only impacted 33 ships and 60% of these ships were diverted to other ports, it is much more significant than that.

Before I move on, I must say that there are no worries for holiday 2012. These products have been on-hand for at least two months.

There are two much bigger, broader concerns:

1. The Lack of Adaptability of Shipper Transportation Management: Right now, transportation managers are out of capacity, dealing with the normal holiday last-minute tactical issues. They were already working 60-hour weeks when they had to deal with the delays and diversion of ships. The few that are remaining from the cuts of the Great Recession were left trying to survive the next three weeks, while being pushed to their limits. Building strategies for the management and technology curve – being adaptable – is critical in order to be prepared for other bumps in the road.

1. The Potential of a New Year’s East Coast Port Strike: The potential monstrous issue in the coming weeks is the looming East Coast strike on December 29, 2012. There were some talks about this happening in September, causing a rush of load shifting. At that point, it was a false alarm, wasting time and resources. If this strike happens in three weeks, it will impact all 14 East Coast and Gulf Ports. The potential for this strike has caused a lot of insecurity about the ability to handle global trade. The solution is to eliminate the threat and ensure a reliable flow of goods.

So what can we do? Two words: “dual action.” First, organizations need to be more strategic with their transportation processes. Be prepared for disruption and remain adaptable.

Second, the federal government needs to be prepared for strike issues and head them off at the pass. There needs to be a response before the strikes create havoc and impacts global trade capabilities.

You can read more in Tom’s blog post here: http://bit.ly/11F1Vef

What are your thoughts on the recent strike and any lessons learned?

Jim