In the 21 years that Robert Enfield has worked in the trucking industry, he hasn’t seen anything quite like what's happening with cargo backlogs at California ports. Enfield, president of Enfield Logistics Group, told the Southern California Record that he has received offers of up to $12,000 to transport cargo from ports in California.
“Loads out of California going coast to coast normally pay about $5,500,” Enfield said.
Known in the industry as a national truckload capacity provider, Enfield is being offered more than top dollar to dispatch his fleet of 12 drivers and their trucks due to backlogged supply chains at ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach.
“It's just simple supply and demand,” he said.
But the former broker disclosed that he’s increasingly having difficulty convincing his drivers to make the trip to California.
“It’s the regulations,” he said. “California won’t let older trucks in. They won't let trucks in without the skirts on the trailer and plus the Department of Transportation is known for harassing drivers at the scales out there. Drivers like to drive in the South to states like Texas, Georgia, and Alabama.”
Although USA Today reported that operating ports in California around the clock will improve the supply chain for holiday shoppers by Christmas, Enfield foresees the situation only getting worse.
"People are going to be out buying merchandise, emptying out the shelves and we won’t be able to restock the shelves quick enough because all the products are sitting in containers on ships,” he said.
As previously reported, some 60 ships are waiting to unload at the ports. Enfield said that operating the ports 24/7 won’t resolve issues because there are other factors at play.
“No one is showing up to work to unload the trucks, which leads to detention, and if the trucks are in detention, that's also preventing trucks from going into the port,” he said. “And all these gains that we're having are getting eaten up by high fuel costs.”
Fuel prices are averaging $3.85 a gallon statewide, according to GasBuddy.
“This whole crisis is a catch-22 all the way around," Enfield said. "No one wants to show up to work. They're having problems with raw materials to make their final finished product. There's a trailer shortage and then now here's another thing that's taken a lot of trucks off the road. If a truck breaks down, it might take three or four weeks to get the auto parts if you're lucky because the auto parts are on those ships."