When Kansas City area could feel effects from port strike

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With Kansas City in the center of the country we seem to be far removed from the dockworker strike happening on the coasts , but experts explain that if the strike continues, we could see the effects soon.

Some, like Alan Davis, say that could be a matter of days while others say it’s more like a couple of weeks.

Davis is a supply chain expert and the president & CEO of i5 Services, a U.S. company that uses a manufacturing database to reduce kinks in the supply chain.

He explained that the strike would have a ripple effect throughout the country.

“Look at it this way,” he said. “Containers are not processing through the port to the rail and trucking lines,” he said. “So, while closer destinations may feel the impact sooner it will only be a matter of days before it is felt across the country.”

Others, like Keith Sarnell, think middle America won’t see an impact for at least a week.

“We’re (Kansas Citians) going to see congestion (at the ports) and prices go up. Everything from auto parts to clothing to produce to household goods. You name it,” Sarnell said.

Sarnell is the vice president of the Great Plains Region for the OEC Group, a third-party logistics provider whose customers freight is being impacted by the strike. He said if the strike goes on another three weeks it won’t clean itself up until 2025.

“If this continues on it’s really going to cause, I would say, COVID level disruption,” Sarnell added.

That doesn’t mean you should run out and stockpile items, which experts say could create a shortage in the short run. Instead, economists like Joseph Von Nessen with the University of South Carolina explain that retailers were ready for this.

“In the short run, we expect to see from the strike itself very limited effects overall because many retailers knew this strike was a possibility as far back as June, and so they’ve been stocking up inventory in anticipating that we might see a strike that takes a few days or a week or two to resolve,” he said.

As of Wednesday night, dock workers on strike remain on the picket line. The International Longshoremen’s Association and the United States Maritime Alliance have yet to come to an agreement on their next master contract. It’s unclear how long that will take. Workers are demanding higher pay and a promise that they won’t lose their jobs to automation.

Ports on the East Coast and Gulf Coast are on strike while the West Coast ports are not.

“The flow of goods coming from the West Coast ports will be relatively unaffected until more shipments are diverted to the West Coast creating a backlog at those ports as well,” Davis added.

Meanwhile, Sarnell said his company was aware of a likely strike and had shifted a lot of its cargo to the West Coast ahead of time.

“We saw this coming and were proactive,” he said.

Data from the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) estimates that $2.1 billion worth of trade would be at risk every day the strike continues.

Additional estimates have indicated that a strike would reduce gross domestic product (GDP) by up to $5 billion per day, only some of which could be recovered as goods are rerouted or after a shutdown ends.

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