> The core issue is not too many containers. It's not enough truckers picking up the new containers,
This doesn't make sense to me unless the truckers are currently extremely busy. And if they are, why is there now a problem? Are there suddenly far fewer truckers?
It's a knock-on effect from lockdowns. Governments got it in their heads that they could partition the economy into "essential" and "non-essential" and could make massive interventions without any side effects. So everyone has to work from home, not go to restaurants anymore, port rules are constantly changing in ways that screw over shipping firms, the economy tanks, everything including logistics is thrown into chaos. Meanwhile people who are ideologically blind to the costs of government intervention sit around and say "why now?! what's happened to cause this?", ignoring the ocean-sized elephant in the room.
Trucking is not an easy job. The working conditions are poor, you have to pay a fair amount of any benefits out of pocket, and like most "gig" economy stuff the logistics companies are driving a relentless rate towards the bottom.
This doesn't make sense to me unless the truckers are currently extremely busy. And if they are, why is there now a problem? Are there suddenly far fewer truckers?