Holiday Expectations for DFW Shipping Hub – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth
It’s not even Halloween and there are concerns about delivering to stores for the Christmas break this year.
The COVID-19 pandemic has paralyzed the supply chain from the manufacturer to the customer. The nation relies on DFW to bring goods to market.
“There’s an awful lot of stuff going into Dallas, getting redistributed and shipped, and it’s not happening the way we’d like it to,” said Mike Davis, economist at Southern Methodist University. “COVID has devastated everything. Look up and down the supply chain and you can see the ravages of COVID. “
Lawrence Woodson and her De Novo Wellness boutique in the Dallas Bishop Arts District provide an example of the situation.
Some of their wares are made in Texas, while others come from Hong Kong.
It’s a very long journey for some of the products she sells.
“Our most popular brand, they told us this summer: ‘Heads up.’ You won’t get any deliveries in October, November or December, ”said Woodson.
With a location in the center of the United States, goods from all over the world come through the DFW area.
DFW Airport and Alliance Airport are major international cargo handling facilities.
There are several large intermodal rail terminals where overseas containers are transferred from seaports to trucks.
DFW is an important warehouse center for the distribution of goods.
President Joe Biden urged coastal ports to work around the clock to catch up with ships waiting offshore to unload in places like Los Angeles.
But once the goods reach DFW, there will be challenges here too, Davis said.
“We are not a bottleneck like the ports on the west coast, but we still have a real lack of capacity here. Much of this is caused by the lack of truck drivers and, in my opinion, the trucking shortage, ”said Davis.
The lack of computer chips, which is limiting automakers, also affects truck production, he said.
Woodson was preparing for the Christmas shopping season with a large order of goods that arrived this week filling their storage area.
“We have a large shipment in January to replenish after the holidays. But we hope we have enough to get by, ”said Woodson.
The strong consumer demand also adds to the logistics and shipping problems in the supply chain problem.
Woodson said her business has seen stable business over the past few months.
Davis said there was a pent-up demand from consumers that was delayed by COVID-19.
“I know that many people suffered economically during the pandemic, but many people were able to save money during the pandemic. They didn’t buy a lot of the things they wanted to buy and now they go shopping, ”said Davis. “That really puts the supply chains under even more pressure.”
Woodson said her customers have been talking about Christmas presents for more than a week, earlier than she expected.
Businesspeople recommend picky shoppers to shop early.
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