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I wish the article would actually go into _what_ is causing the container shortage Are they not manufacturing them? Prioritizing them elsewhere? Is it politica

• ogre_codes 6y ago
  Well for starters, there are lines of cargo ships outside of LA, 20-30 off the coast of LA right now. Typically it would be 1-2. That’s something like 100,000 sitting idle right there. Then many of the storage facilities are also jam packed with containers too. Apparently we’ve all gone on a spending spree during COVID so more containers are simply out there filled with crap we’ve ordered and waiting for shipment, unloading, and return to the ports.
• makomk 6y ago
  For a start, a whole bunch of containers ended up stuck in locations where they wouldn't normally be and there's not enough return goods, and for some reason shipping companies aren't interested in carrying empty containers back on their return trips?
• elorant 6y ago
  There's no shortage of containers per se. The problem is more complex because due to the pandemic the whole logistics line isn't functioning the way it used to. Ports are understaffed because of lockdowns, factories close down so the goods at ports can't get delivered to manufacturing, shipping carriers reduce the number of vessels at sea to avoid a drop in ocean rates so there are ships sitting at ports and no one around to move the containers where they're needed, and so on and so forth.
• Johnny555 6y ago
  There's another Hackernews discussion about just that: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26574077 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26574077