rules against container stacking that did major damage to our supply chains.
Is this “major damage” claim true? I remember being unsure, at the time, if the effects of the rules that limited stack height were substantial or negligible, since some people were saying that they mostly just applied to places that didn’t have the equipment to stack higher. Did anyone ever follow up to at least check how much container stacking increased after the rule change?
I am confident that the container stacking rules caused major damage when compared to better stacking rules. If we had a sensible stacking rule across LB/LA from the start I am confident there would have been far less backlog.
What is less clear is the extent to which the rules changes that were enacted mitigated the problem. While LB made some changes on the day of the post, LA didn’t act and LB’s action wasn’t complete. Thus there was some increase in permitted stacking but it was far from what one would have hoped for. And Elizabeth is right that we did not see a difference in port backlog that we can definitively link to the partial change that was enacted.
I remember being unsure, at the time, if the effects of the rules that limited stack height were substantial or negligible, since some people were saying that they mostly just applied to places that didn’t have the equipment to stack higher.
A priori, it seems plausible that those places don’t have the equipment because of the rules. In which case you wouldn’t necessarily expect a rules change to make a quick difference, especially if not announced in advance. But perhaps on a timeline of weeks or months?
Is this “major damage” claim true? I remember being unsure, at the time, if the effects of the rules that limited stack height were substantial or negligible, since some people were saying that they mostly just applied to places that didn’t have the equipment to stack higher. Did anyone ever follow up to at least check how much container stacking increased after the rule change?
There was a long debate on this, I thought Zvi had changed his mind and recognized the rule change made no detectable difference in the port backlog.
I am confident that the container stacking rules caused major damage when compared to better stacking rules. If we had a sensible stacking rule across LB/LA from the start I am confident there would have been far less backlog.
What is less clear is the extent to which the rules changes that were enacted mitigated the problem. While LB made some changes on the day of the post, LA didn’t act and LB’s action wasn’t complete. Thus there was some increase in permitted stacking but it was far from what one would have hoped for. And Elizabeth is right that we did not see a difference in port backlog that we can definitively link to the partial change that was enacted.
A priori, it seems plausible that those places don’t have the equipment because of the rules. In which case you wouldn’t necessarily expect a rules change to make a quick difference, especially if not announced in advance. But perhaps on a timeline of weeks or months?