Cargo Business Newswire

Monday, December 22, 2014

Top Story

West Coast port slowdown causes FedEx to shift resources, limit shipments

The founder and CEO of FedEx Corp. said last week that slowdowns triggered by West Coast labor contract negotiations are causing delays in deliveries to some retailers and stressing out logistics companies just before Christmas.

In an earnings conference call, the FedEx CEO Fred Smith said the backlog has already caused FedEx to shift resources and limit shipments from some customers, according to a Bloomberg report. FedEx expects to deliver a record 290 million packages during the peak holiday season.

"The slowdown in the West Coast ports has been a much bigger deal than people think, and a tremendous amount of inventory was simply not put through the ports in the time frame that the retailers had expected," Smith said. "I suspect that you'll see a lot of purchases of gift cards in lieu of merchandise."

United Parcel Service, the world's largest package-delivery firm, also has "seen some examples at selected retail customers where the dock workers issue has impacted their ability to add inventory," said Andy McGowan, a company spokesman, to The Oregonian.

Pacific Maritime Association spokesman Steve Getzug said Wednesday that the two sides "remain far apart on several issues" that have been vexing negotiators for months, according to the Associated Press.

A week ago, PMA gave the ILWU what Getzug termed as "a comprehensive proposal," but the union's response Monday "made clear that we're still far apart and there's still a lot more to do," AP reported.

For more of the Memphis Business Journal story: www.bizjournals.com

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