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AgTC Agriculture and Forest Products Export Crisis Survey #2 - 2022

Last year’s AgTC Export Crisis Survey #1- 2021 measured impact on US agriculture and forest products exports. It guided Congressional and Federal agency responses, including passage of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2021 (with provisions proposed by the AgTC) in the House, drafting of a Senate bill, and numerous White House, Federal Maritime Commission, DOT and USDA initiatives, even state and municipal governments.

Now, a year later, as the crisis deepens, this AgTC Agriculture and Forest Products Export Crisis Survey #2 – 2022 will update the data, to motivate further action. Areas covered:

Gaining Space on Ships
Ocean Shipping Cost Increases
Loss of Sales
Failure of Ocean Carrier Schedule Integrity
Detention/Demurrage
Container Repositioning
 
AS ALWAYS, WE SCRUB YOUR RESPONSES, SO THAT YOU AND YOUR COMPANY'S NAME ARE NOT INCLUDED.         
 
Questions? Email info@agtrans.org
1.Please share your contact info below. (This info will be scrubbed before results are shared. This is simply so that AgTC staff can reach out to you for further info if needed.)(Required.)
2.What products are you exporting? (for example, hay, dried dairy, cotton, almonds, etc.)
3.From what origin locations?
4.To what countries? List major markets, in order of volumes shipped:
Gaining Space on Ships (NOTE: All questions below relate to shipping from January 1, 2021 to the present. All requested percentages are approximate.)
5.Approximately, what percentage of your requested export bookings have been declined by the ocean carriers?
6.What percentage of your confirmed bookings have been cancelled by a carrier?
7.What percentage of your export cargo have you been able to deliver timely to the foreign customer?
Ocean Shipping Cost Increases (NOTE: All questions below relate to shipping from January 1, 2021 to the present. All requested percentages are approximate.)
8.Compare your current TOTAL shipping costs to ‘normal’ (pre-2019) total shipping costs, including ocean freight, detention/demurrage, trucking, chassis, storage, and other landside costs:
9.Can you estimate the $ increase, per shipment?
10.Are you generally able to pass these costs on to your foreign customer?
11.In what percentage of the sales, do you absorb these additional costs?
12.Have disruptions increased internal personnel costs? Additional demands on saff time necessitated by increased handling of each booking. Have you lost staff, due to stress and time demands? Have you had to hire more staff for the same volume? Or even more people for less volume?
13.Trucking. Compare your current TRUCKING costs to the “normal” (pre-2019) trucking costs.
14.Has lack of available chassis impacted the movement of your shipments to or from a rail ramp, marine terminal, CES, Container Yard? Please describe.
15.What has been the impact on your shipments, if any, of ocean carrier restriction of the brand of chassis eligible to carry its containers? Please explain
Loss of Sales (NOTE: All questions below relate to shipping from January 1, 2021 to the present. All requested percentages are approximate.)
16.Roughly, what percentage of your foreign sales have been lost since January 2021, due to the on-going export transport challenges?
17.Can you estimate the $ amount of lost sales? 
18.If the sale lost, what percentage is due to:
19.If you are unable to export the cargo what do you do with it ? e.g. sell on the domestic market, destroy it, cancel production, etc.
20.Some foreign customers have shifted to suppliers in other countries, due to lack of dependable delivery times and the additional delivery costs. Has this occurred to you?
Failure of Ocean Carrier Service Integrity (NOTE: All questions below relate to shipping from January 1, 2021 to the present. All requested percentages are approximate.)
21.What is the percentage of time that the ship arrival, loading, and sailing dates are consistent with advance schedules?
22.When the carrier schedule changes, for instance the ship arrival is delayed, or the cargo delivery deadline (ERD) is changed, or the sailing is canceled, what percent of the time does the carrier provide timely notification?
23.Do the unexpected ship schedule changes, cancelled sailings and/or lack of adequate notice, lead to loss of the delivery and sale? What percentage of total sales are lost due to lack of carrier service?
Detention/Demurrage 
24.More or less, what percentage of your export containers are subjected to detention and/or demurrage charges?
25.For those containers that are assessed a detention or demurrage charge, what is the average charge per container? You may provide a range of charges.
26.Cumulatively, what percentage of your total freight costs are due to detention/demurrage charges? (as opposed to the contracted freight rate)
27.Some port authorities have ‘frozen’ the ERD (delivery deadline), so as to prevent charging of demurrage beyond the original date the carrier announced as its date the container could enter the terminal. Has this incentivized you to route your shipments through those ports?
28.Rank the following causes leading to detention/demurrage charges, with 1 being the leading cause.
29.Other causes? Additional comments?
Container Repositioning
30.Compared to ‘normal’ (pre-2019) times, are ocean carriers willing to reposition empty containers to inland points as needed?
31.Which carriers are still repositioning containers at the inland points you need?
32.Please describe the impact on your shipping when carriers do not reposition containers to your inland points?
Conclusion
33.Do you have additional comments you'd like to share?
34.Will you be attending the AgTC Annual Meeting in Tacoma, WA June 14-17, 2022? (For more info, email info@AgTrans.org)
Thank you. Your responses are confidential, your name and company are scrubbed, the responses to the questions are combined with all other responses.