• Strike: For every one day of strike the ports will back up from 5-10 days: 2 day strike equals 10-20 days, 3 day strike equals 15-30 days... 
• Slowdowns and Disruptions: Everyone is expecting the union to cause slowdowns, disruptions and by cause of action or threat, added congestion at the port in the lead up to the negotiations. We could see additional problems pop up at sympathetic ports that will compound the issue. 
• Lockout: There was a 10 day lockout that crippled West Coast Ports more than a decade ago. If the unions cause too much disruption at the ports, you can be assured there will be another lockout which, just like a strike, would have a devastating effect on the economy and our industry. 
• Diverting to Alternate Ports: A lot of talk has been made about diverting to Oakland or Vancouver. There is not near enough open capacity at those ports to support everyone that wants to reroute their freight. 
• Port Congestion: We are already seeing port congestion due to many companies ordering heavy in anticipation of the strike. In fact, APL has already announced a port congestion fee of $1000 per 40' and $800 per 20' containers effective May 1. Think of the huge amounts of money and the associated reduction in working capital, being invested in added inventory by companies due to just the threat of a strike! 

Thus, if you expect shipments of product to Long Beach, plan accordingly. For questions contact our President & CEO, Rodney Pierini at 800.332.2292 or [email protected].