Seems every other week there is another story about a possible strike, port congestion, etc. but get used to it because it will continue as container trade continues to boom and ports struggle to keep up with demand. This week, via the Journal of Commerce, it’s German rail workers who claim they will strike on Thursday:

The members of the GDL union said that protests could begin Thursday with two- to three-hour stoppages of freight trains before extending to passenger trains.

National rail operator Deutsche Bahn said it rejected an ultimatum by the union to come up with a new pay offer by Tuesday night.

A strike will have a major impact on the main German ports of Hamburg and Bremen/Bremerhaven, which rely on trains to haul up to 25 percent of the containers moving to and from their terminals. The effects of a work stoppage would also hit the Port of Rotterdam, which is linked to the German rail network via a new cargo-only corridor, and Antwerp, which handles large volumes of container and conventional cargoes bound for Germany, Europe’s biggest economy.

There is very little slack in the supply chain to re-route containers as European ports, already working close to capacity, gear up for the peak shipping season.

The Financial Times says the economic costs “to be huge”:

Claudia Kemfert, transport expert at the Berlin-based DIW economic institute, said the total cost of an all-out strike at DB could be well in excess of €100m ($138m, £68m) a day. Although DB estimates the costs at €500m a day, even an average figure of €300m would translate to a 5 per cent drop in daily gross domestic product.

If you haven’t done so already, start talking to your carriers and consolidators to find out what contingency plans, if any, they have in place should a strike occur. Hopefully a last minute deal will be struck or negotiators brought back to the table, but it doesn’t look too good.

Stumble it!