As we enter the last quarter of the year, one thing that is fairly universally agreed is that supply chain delays and shortages will continue into 2022.

The increase in Asia to European demand is expected to continue next year, with Maersk Line predicting a further 6-8% increase. However, there is little indication that the supply chain problems, that have impacted everybody during the past eighteen months, have any short term fixes.

Carrier schedules, impacted by global port congestion and sporadic covid port closures and lockdowns in Asia, have become far less reliable and are seemingly declining rather than improving, while rates have spiralled out of all control.

In the UK, the driver shortage crisis is not expected to be fixed overnight. The government is introducing amendments to the test procedures that will take many months, if not years, to help fill the 100,000 shortfall in drivers.

Many transport organisations, that have been lobbying the government for months to grant temporary visas to foreign nationals, feel their recent approval should have come earlier to provide the boost in drivers needed. The UK lost an estimated 20,000 foreign national drivers post Brexit.

– Your MultiFreight Team