Last weekend, the U.S. House passed a bipartisan, $1 trillion-dollar infrastructure bill designed to build and make improvements to roads, bridges, railroads, ports, and more. These improvements will roll out over the next five years.
While this is great news for a lot of people, it’s especially of note to industries like furniture and retail, which have been paralyzed by the pandemic-induced logistical logjams over the past 20 months or so. Sure, these infrastructure improvements won’t solve everyone’s shipping problems overnight or even in time for next season, but they could help alleviate the issues sooner rather than later and going into the longterm.
That’s the thinking of the National Retail Federation (NRF), who released a statement earlier this week about the passage of the bill and its potential impact on the retail industry.
“This substantial influx of investment in our roads, ports, bridges, and other core infrastructure will further enable businesses to meet burgeoning consumer demand and promote economic growth. The prioritization of our nation’s fundamental transportation network will mitigate many of the supply chain challenges businesses are experiencing today and will pave the way for a 21st-century infrastructure system that can withstand future disruptions.”
The promise of relief couldn’t come at a better time. According to the NRF, imports at the nation’s ports are expected to remain at near-record levels for the remainder of 2021, in anticipation of the holiday shopping season. And traffic is anticipated to remain high going into the new year—January 2022 is forecast at 2.21 million TEU, up 7.6% from January 2021 and February at 2 million TEU, up 7% year-over-year, according to the NRF and Hackett Associates’ Global Port Tracker.
“Dockworkers are unloading ships as fast as they can, but the challenge is to move the containers out of the ports to make room for the next ship,” NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said. “We need better empty return procedures and more chassis, truck drivers, rail capacity, and warehouse workers to keep the system moving. Retailers have enough inventory on hand to make sure shoppers won’t go home empty-handed this holiday season. But there are still items sitting on the docks or waiting on ships that need to make it to store shelves and online sellers’ warehouses. Retailers want to make sure customers have product choices.”
And going forward, entities like the NRF are optimistic that the influx of investment in making the roads, railways, and ports in this nation better will make it easier for retailers to get product more efficiently and reliably.
“Retailers rely on the American infrastructure system to move billions of dollars worth of merchandise to communities across the country and around the globe every day,” the organization said in a statement. “A healthy and efficient transportation system is vital to the success of thousands of retail businesses.”
