With only ten weeks to go until Christmas, the UK's largest container port, Felixstowe, is struggling to keep up with demand and, as a result, is potentially having to turn away ships if the situation doesn't improve. It's peak season at Port of Felixstowe, and the site has become severely congested due in part to a shortage of HGV drivers. 

Severe congestion at the port is delaying HGV drivers meaning they have to halt operations. Part of this ongoing problem as mentioned above is due to a shortage of lorry drivers. Meaning container volumes are rapidly building up at the port, and 'dwell time' doubles in many circumstances. 

The average container arriving at the port of Felixstowe is waiting more than nine days before collection - twice as long as the average wait this time last year. Container collection by lorry drivers was down 15-20% from normal in September, resulting in a backlog of 7500 containers.  Unfortunately, this means management at the port has to consider the possibility of turning ships away to help mitigate the situation. 

Unfortunately, these issues arise because of labour shortages within the port and the haulage firms not having enough drivers to cope with the demand.

Both big-name retailers and smaller independent retailers are beginning to feel the impact, with IKEA suggesting they are facing issues with some containers being returned. A spokesperson for the retail giant said, "like many retailers, we are experiencing ongoing challenges with our supply chains due to a variety of factors, including HGV driver shortages. 

Felixstowe is handling similar import volumes to 2019 but is currently importing more containers that it is managing to transport out by rail and road.

Businesses and freight trade associations blame the problems at Felixstowe on a shortage of HGV drivers, which has led to a significant fall in the number of container collections, and labour shortages at the port, which is hampering efforts to unload and reload ships. 

Felixstowe is responsible for and handles just under 40% of all the containers which are sent to and from the UK.

Import volume levels are still growing, and the port is telling its customers that it is "at capacity". Management is considering slowing the flow of imports by turning vessels away if the situation doesn't improve.

Whatever the government does or doesn't do next, this ongoing issue must be resolved. If container congestion persists, there will be an inevitable shortage of goods in the UK, which will impact choice, availability, and the overall price.

To read the full article, click this link: https://www.itv.com/news/2021-10-11/britains-biggest-container-port-so-congested-considering-turning-ships-away