by Gilbert B Norman
With the "mothballing" of much tonnage during the Recession, this article appearing front page in Today's New York Times suggests that the maritime industry, and by association, the railroad industry, may not timely deliver to Wally World whatever shape Tickle Me Elmo is to be this Xmas.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/27/busin ... pping.html?
Brief passage:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/27/busin ... pping.html?
Brief passage:
- The problems stem from 2009, when stores slashed inventory. With little demand for shipping, ocean carriers took ships out of service: more than 11 percent of the global shipping fleet was idle in spring 2009, according to AXS-Alphaliner, an industry consultant.
Carriers also moved to “slow steaming,” traveling at slower and more fuel-efficient speeds, while the companies producing containers, the typically 20- or 40-foot boxes in which most consumer companies ship goods, essentially stopped making them.
- The problems in container shipping from Asia are the most pronounced, retailers say, but shipments from other continents, and via domestic trains and trucks, are difficult as well. The effects have been severe for some retailers and suppliers