Business View Civil Municipal - Sept 2023

18 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 9 a backlog of containers, according to project44. Strike at Port of Vancouver leads to cargo delays Median import and export dwell times at the Port of Vancouver, since July 1. The shaded area represents when ILWU Canada’s strike occurred. Just the threat of a strike can advance a company’s demise. Yellow Corp. filed for bankruptcy this month after a strike threat over missed pension payments added further incentive for shippers to continue diverting freight volumes from its network. The third-largest U.S. LTL carrier had resorted to suing the Teamsters in June for delaying its proposed network overhaul. Although shippers will need to adjust to the fall of a major transportation provider, many have experience making tweaks in the face of supply chain disruptions since the pandemic. Diverting cargo to East Coast ports was one notable tactic businesses employed last year during contract negotiations at West Coast ports. Many shippers have also tapped into a more varied carrier mix since the capacity constraints of 2020 and 2021, reducing their exposure to disruptions at a particular carrier. “I think the days of sole sourcing, while they’re not going to be gone, they are certainly looked at with more scrutiny,” said Spencer Shute, principal consultant at Proxima. Investments in technology like digital twins to analyze certain scenarios and keeping safety stock to avoid inventory shortfalls can also help shippers’ efforts to mitigate disruptions, said Brad Hulbert, sourcing and supply chain consulting director at Grant Thornton. However, those approaches require a certain level of investment and time, and companies may not realize it’s worth it before the next shock— be it a strike, a labor shortage or something else — occurs. “It’s really bad to say, but that’s what it takes sometimes,” Hulbert said. “Somebody has to get punched in the gut to really understand this is a priority, even though it might not seem like it at face value.”