Peak Season – 2007

August 14, 2007 by Splatty  
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Is everybody as excited as I am about this year’s peak season? According to the latest report from the National Retail Federation, this year’s peak season is shaping up to be another record breaker. Look for record breaking months for the next three months beginning in August.

“Now that we’re in peak season, August is going to be a very busy month and is expected to break the record set last October,” Global Insight Economist Paul Bingham said. “September will be slightly slower but will still top last October, and this October will set another whole new record. Despite the heavy volume, all the ports we cover are operating without congestion from harbor to gate, and shippers can be confident the system will have adequate capacity to provide acceptable performance for the remainder of the year. Rail performance for getting cargo away from the ports continues to be below last year’s levels, but is still acceptable and should be adequate for the peak season surge in volume.”

It seems that volumes are increasing earlier in the year with many retailers looking to import goods before the big Christmas rush, ensuring that products reach market shelves in time for the busy shopping season.

From a forwarders perspective, obtaining space out of Asia has not been too much of an issue yet, although I have seen some instances where we have needed to book containers on alternate steamship lines on certain lanes. Be sure to discuss upcoming peak season issues with your provider to ensure you have adequate space reserved. The better you are able to forecast, the better chance you’ll have of keeping delays to a minimum between now and the end of the year.

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