In response to COVID, Shanghai takes measures in the Pudong and Puxi regions in Shanghai. Jon Monroe, principal at Monroe Consulting, told U.S. shippers that the temporary restrictions in Shanghai might have a more severe impact on the market than the early COVID conditions.
He pointed out that although many people say that the port is open, port workers and truck drivers have been asked to stay home, which will affect the factory’s ability to deliver containers to the port, which are almost impossible to transport to Shanghai Yangshan and Waigaoqiao.
North America’s largest truck freight service provider, C.H.Robinson, officially opened its bonded warehouse in Shanghai’s Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone in 2019, and its customer consulting department said the office and all operations deemed non-essential were closed, and public transportation suspended operations, and now there is a serious shortage of manpower and freight services. The company’s Shanghai team is working from home to maintain operations in various regions as much as possible.
Worldwide Logistics said in an email to clients that the surge in COVID-19 testing in Shanghai has delayed the usual 12-hour response time, reduced operational capacity and restricted container movement between Shanghai and nearby industrial areas in Jiangsu.
No timeline for reopening has been announced, and carriers are distributing more cargo to Ningbo port or inland ports along the Yangtze River.
Worldwide Logistics also stressed that trucking capacity in Qingdao is still down 30 percent, and that transportation across the city is slowing. Affected by the COVID-19 in Tianjin, container transportation in Cangzhou, Langfang, Bazhou, Tangshan and other places has been severely restricted, pending further notice, and most factories in these areas have been temporarily suspended.
