Los Angeles ports will fine cargo ships waiting to unload their goods in an attempt to relieve congestion that is as desperate as it is gobsmackingly stupid.
It’s a fine so pointless and wrong that, of course, Presidentish Joe Biden has chimed in with his support for it.
According to CNBC, the White House is "hopeful" that fines will "ease the intensifying logjam of cargo ships" waiting to unload at Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles. Together, the two account for 40% of the country’s seaborne imports.
Carriers will have to pay "$100 per day for each container lingering past a given timeline" starting on the first of the month. Containers moved by truck will have nine days before they’ll start paying, and containers moved by rail will have just three days.
To show you just how wrong that is, allow me to use a down-home example.
My sons, ages 15 and 11, like to play a familiar game. The older, bigger one will hold the younger, shorter one at arm’s length by his forehead. The shorter one will then try to hit the taller one — to no avail because his shorter arms just can’t get there.
Now imagine that the older boy fined the younger one $100 for each missed punch because that’s pretty much what Los Angeles ports are doing to carriers. |