12 SEP 2017 – The US ports that closed ahead of Hurricane Irma’s landfall are preparing to reopen, but with fuel stores low, many still without power, and roads and rail lines in disrepair, it will be days before shippers see supply chains in Florida and the Southeast totally restored.
Already, analysts and transportation providers say the storm, which followed hot on the heels of Hurricane Harvey, could have lasting impacts on truck rates and capacity through January 2018. “It’s not just the Southeast,” Mark Montague, industry pricing analyst at DAT Solutions, said Monday. “There’s kind of a flow throughout the country. The prior week Chicago to Denver (spot truck pricing) was up. This last week we saw Chicago to Buffalo was up.”
The six major ports, stretching from Miami to Charleston, that suspended operations during the weekend handle one out of every six containers entering and leaving North America, as well as significant volumes of petroleum, diesel, and jet fuel that supply other modes of transportation in the region. Restocking fuel, in the short term, will be a priority throughout the region.
Read more at gateway-group.com