As I write this it’s still October and only just about ok to talk about Christmas. In truth, if you are in the shipping and freight forwarding business, it’s important to talk about Christmas and way beyond – the way things are going at some of the UK’s major ports we may need to look at 2019 and beyond.

The traditional peak season influx of holiday goods often stretches container terminals to their limits, but this year observers claim that the supply chain is at breaking point – add in the acute haulage here in the UK and you start to see a potentially distressing picture for the short term.

Christmas

There have been major congestion issues at Felixstowe and Southampton for quite sometime now and it seems that we may be close to a tipping point – UK retailers potentially face weeks of delays in getting their Christmas stock onto the shelves in time for the peak consumer spending rush.

The challenges facing the industry in the UK will obviously impact shipping further afield – in the case of TCB Group, that means Asia, Europe and North America.

All we can do is try and get our own house in order, communicate with each other as best we can and try and have a bit more patience and understanding.

Easier said than done!

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