Far Far Away Trade Troubles! Is This the End of Our Swamp Deliveries?!

What in the Swamp is Goin' On?

Well hello there! Shrek here reporting live from... well my swamp! Turns out all this fancy "trade war" business is messin' with more than just the fancy folk. Seems like this whole U.S. and China kerfuffle with those pesky tariffs and recession fears is causing a real ogre sized problem for our deliveries. Like Donkey always says "That's a rock fact!"

The Numbers Don't Lie: It's an Ogre Sized Drop!

Those fancy port people are sayin' that the number of those big ol' container ships headin' to Los Angeles and Long Beach is droppin' faster than Donkey trying to outrun a dragon! For the week ending May 3rd we're talkin' a 29% drop week over week! And if we look at last year it's a whopping 44% decrease! That's like someone saying I don't like mud! Preposterous! According to some gizmo called "Port Optimizer".

From the Sea to the Land: Truck Troubles Ahead?

But it ain't just the ships folks. This ocean freight slowdown is startin' to affect the ground guys too. Some fella named Ken Adamo says we're at a "tipping point" on the West Coast. Apparently there's a lot less truck loads available. Over 700,000 loads have “evaporated” nationally in the past week. That’s more than the amount of times Donkey asks “Are we there yet?” on one trip.

Cancelled Voyages?! Shiver Me Timbers!

What's worse than an empty belly? Empty ships! Seems these ocean carriers are cancelin' voyages left and right. They call 'em "blank sailings," whatever that means. Alliances between these companies have cancellation rates as high as 24%! They're tryin' to balance the whole tariffs situation but it sounds like they're just makin' a bigger swamp mess!

Blame it on the Trade War!?

CNBC (whatever that is) says there's a total of 80 blank sailings out of China 'cause demand is plummeting. Carriers are havin' to stop or change their routes. It's like trying to bake a cake with no sugar flour or oven – just not gonna work!

Ogres Beware!

So what does this all mean? Well it means things are gettin' a bit hairy. Maybe we should all stock up on our favorite swamp snacks just in case things get really bad. And remember folks sometimes the best thing to do is just stay in your swamp and let the world sort itself out. Just like I always do.