Moving Cargo After Sandy

In the aftermath of hurricane Sandy, the US East coast could have more logistics trouble than just power outages and flooding. The trucking industry was stopped completely for a few days and only now has had some openings to bring merchandise in and let out the trucks that have been stuck in the northeast all week. There are still many roads blocked and bridges that are no longer safe for travel so trucks are not having an easy time getting out of the region. Many reports have been that trucks are unable to leave, some with damages and some without gas to get out from port areas. A major issue that was tripping up the supply chain was that drivers were unavailable as well. Many people have lost their homes and have moved to evacuation shelters and others are still without a means of getting out given the massive power failures. This does not make for easy travel as the ports get up and running again.

Others still are trying to bring in shipping containers from places like the Chicago and St. Louis but are finding that many of their contacts have been available. Most business in the east have been trying to get their generators up and running and get their computer systems working by now. The problem is that for the past week, shipments were unable to leave since they could not find out if their destinations would be able to take the cargo. A lot of warehouses have begun to open, especially with major chains and supermarkets open to take cargo, but some have been so devastated that they are not going to be able to open for months. This could present a shortage in the US East coast markets, but since so much was planned ahead, we should rise out of any shortages fairly quickly.