Port of Oakland helps with shipping backlog

OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON) - COVID-19 is continuing to impact consumers.

Globally there is still congestion at some ports and disruption in the supply chain.

The delays at Port of Los Angeles have been getting worse for months with no signs of letting up before the holidays.

Right now, Port of Oakland officials say they have no delays and they are ready to help Port of Los Angeles any way they can.

They say if LA can push some of their volumes up to Port of Oakland in a responsible manner, they'll work through it.

"We do stand at the ready to help however we can. We have capacity. Our labor is ready to go," Andrew Hwang said.

That hasn't always been true, at the peak of Port of Oakland's congestion back in June, they had 28 ships waiting.

"The increase in volume plus shortage in labor, a lot of it is due to covid resulted in delays for vessels berthing," Hwang said.

Manager of business development and international marketing for Port of Oakland Andrew Hwang says the whole global supply chain was feeling delays.

As a result of COVID-19, some manufacturers shut down, there was a labor shortage, and there was more e-commerce.

"Many people shifted their purchasing patterns from experiential spending such as concerts, movies, and dining out and all the budget was shifting to purchasing products," Hwang said.

To get the Port of Oakland operating with no delays, they increased the labor pool and added more cranes.

"These cranes operate faster, they are larger and higher, they're higher and the booms go out further which means they can handle the larger ships that are sailing around the globe today," Hwang said.

Hwang says because they managed to eliminate congestion, Oakland can assist LA but it can't take its place.

"Oakland will never, ever replace LA/Long Beach and a lot of it is depending on the metrics, they're larger than Oakland," Hwang said.

He says consumers are still going to feel the impact of the initial delays at Port of Oakland and the continued delays around the world.

You should plan ahead for the holidays.

"If you see something that you want to get for someone for the holidays and the price is reasonable, I would suggest to get it right away as opposed to waiting because there is no predictability as to when more supply might arrive," Hwang said.

He also mentioned that you will see some empty shelves at stores and your preferred brand may not be available right now but he says that all the product is likely on its way.

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