Supply Chain Crisis: Shipping Industry Leaders Meet In San Francisco, Warn Backlog To Stretch Long Past Holidays
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) – As the supply chain crisis continues, leaders in the shipping and logistics industries met in San Francisco on Wednesday, warning the backlog overwhelming ships and ports could linger for a very long time.
At San Francisco's Pier 1, leaders gathered at Prologis to discuss the supply chain backlog.
"There isn't enough stuff in the pipe to feed all of the demand that is happening. Every port is congested. Every container is in the wrong place," said Prologis CEO Hamid Moghadam.
The supply chain problem is hitting at a micro level in many places, including Donato's, an Italian restaurant in downtown Redwood City.
Owner Donato Scotti told KPIX 5 that he has had to change the menus, is out of his favorite Italian espresso beans and doesn't know if his panettone is going to make from Italy in time for Christmas. It was all supposed to be here in mid-September.
"I've had stuff that is in the water for over 60 days and usually it is 35 to 45 days to my restaurant," Scotti told KPIX 5.
Moghadam said the supply chain is too fragmented and there isn't enough slack in the system.
"A system that was really built for everything working right is now having to deal with a situation where nothing is working right. And it's going to take a while before this can straighten itself out," Moghadam told KPIX 5.
Moghadam thinks it could be as long two years to get sorted, because it's not just getting all of those container ships offloaded in Los Angeles and Long Beach.
"It's easy to go buy a truck, but where are you going to get a driver? There's a huge shortage of drivers around," he said.
At Donato's, all of his storage is full for now. Scotti hopes his supplies hold out until the next order arrives.
"We're just sitting here with our fingers crossed and there is nothing that we can do personally," he said.
