Logistics in the Caster Industry
Key Points:
- CasterHQ's continual rise and economic growth despise the logistical struggles and how we are succeeding.
- According to economists, shipping backups at big U.S. ports are not likely to resolve themselves until well into 2022.
- The problems should lessen after the holidays and Lunar New Year as container traffic backs off, Goldman Sachs said
- Companies have been left to find ways to keep their products moving amid the supply chain disruptions.
CasterHQ & 2022:
CasterHQ has invested a majority of its profits back into inventory and a second operating facility to keep a much more extensive inventory than most caster companies in the industry, so our customers don't have to wait for their goods. We have also hired and continue to hire more staff than commonly needed, which is unheard of but due to the current instability in the U.S. workforce, it's an investment we decided to make. These investments have allowed us to have a reliable force to ship our customer's orders on time. I hope this article below will help our customers understand the current industrial situation and why costs continue to rise. According to many economists, prices are predicted to drop in 2023; until then, we will continue to strive to provide excellent customer satisfaction, transparency, company values, invest in emerging technologies, and continue to track metrics that line with trust and customer satisfaction.
Shipping Crisis into 2022:According to economists, the shipping backups at U.S. ports are not likely to resolve themselves well into 2022.
"Backlogs and elevated shipping costs are likely to persist at least through the middle of next year because no immediate solution for the underlying supply-demand imbalance at U.S. ports is available," Goldman economist Ronnie Walker said in a note to clients. The problems should lessen after the holidays and Lunar New Year as container traffic wanes. In the meantime, consumers will pay more and have access to less. Shipping a container through the U.S. port now takes three times as long, which is why many small and big companies are struggling.
How much have freight costs increased in 2021?Performance indices for Parcel, LTL, and Truckload increased year-over-year, and quarter-over-quarter as capacity constraints persist across all modes. Of note, the Truckload index rose 28.5% YOY and 12.8% since January 2021. LTL increased 9.1% compared to 2020 and 4.1% in January 2021.After eight years of 4.9% average annual rate hikes, FedEx announced a 5.9% average annual rate increase effective Jan. 3, 2022. According to the FedEx announcement, these changes in costs are associated with "the challenging operating environment, while enabling FedEx to continue investing in service enhancement, fleet maintenance, technology innovations, and other areas to serve customers more effectively and efficiently."
Move your Manufacturing locations:
China has been the global manufacturing powerhouse, but they are now an unreliable shipping bottleneck lately. This has proven to many manufacturing facilities not to rely on one location. Many people utilize Vietnam due to its lower labor rates and high-quality standards. Current labor in china costs approximately $5.51/hour but may be slightly higher at the time of this article. Vietnams labor costs are around $2.55/hour but may also be somewhat more in this article. Ultimately, if you can afford to move your manufacturing facilities to the USA, it is highly recommended, and many Industrial Manufacturers are doing just that.
Great Things coming in the Caster & Wheel Industry:
There are some great things coming into 2022 with a majority of the caster manufacturing plants aware of the situation, many are making plans to invest in more inventory and some are even building manufacturing facilities here in the USA which is a huge move for both the industry and our U.S. economy as the Global caster industry as a whole is a multi-billion dollar industry. For any information regarding
Casters or Wheels please email us at
[email protected] or call our amazing customer service staff at
1-844-439-4335. 
