[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] - Nearly two dozen cargo ships and oil tankers are waiting to berth off the south shore of Long Island on Saturday as surge of imports and short-staffed ports have caused a logjam sea
- Earlier this year, Port of New York and New Jersey became the second busiest port in the country behind Los Angeles, according to recent shipping data
- Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which normally moves 40% of containers in US, has 62 cargo ships waiting to dock, satellite images show
- Backup brought on by a combination of it being peak shipping period and a pandemic-induced buying boom and labor shortage
- The ports serve as the entry point for a third of imports to the US, and are the main import point for goods coming from China
- FedEx announced that about 25 per cent of packages going into it shipping hubs, like the one in Portland, Oregon, are being diverted
- The hubs are operating with 65 per cent of their usual staff as the shipping company struggles against the national labor shortage
- Costco announced Thursday it was bringing back limits on purchases of items like toilet paper, paper towels and bottled water
- Transportation issues are causing delays in deliveries to stores despite suppliers having enough stock
- Pandemic-driven port congestion and labor shortages have forced retail chains including Costco to spend more on transportation
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