2021 now brings signs of hope and a new normal. However, the effects of Covid-19 continue to have an impact on our personal and professional lives. As vaccinations are rolled out and confidence is regained in several parts of the world, we are seeing relocation volumes starting to return to pre-Covid levels.
At Crown, we are entering what is usually a “busy summer season.” And like other industries, we are seeing the impact of the pandemic and pressure on supply chains everywhere. For the moving services industry, this includes freight rate increases, port congestions that affect shipping timelines, limited container availability and labor shortages. As a result, we’ve seen the following instances:
- Freight costs from Singapore to the U.K. quoted at two to three times more than average rates (US$ 15k vs. 5k).
- Household goods requiring temporary storage due to container availability, incurring additional handling charges and other unplanned expenses.
- Door-to-door timelines increasing by 20% due to limited availability on containers.
- Overseas workers unable to obtain immigration documents due to lockdowns and entry restrictions, resulting in capacity issues among some of our service partners as well as increased pricing.
Working together to manage uncertainty
As we navigate this fluid situation, we remain committed to keeping lines of communication open between Crown and our customers and clients. Our focus in the coming months is twofold:
- To advise you of any increased costs.
- To ensure that we give attention to supply chain diversification to avoid a single point of failure within our delivery model, wherever possible.
And we are asking that customers and clients support this unique moment, by:
- Communicating with, and asking, internal stakeholders to give Crown as much notice as possible in order to meet planned schedules.
- Working with us through several potential move dates, when necessary and possible. This flexibility in timelines will help us partner through these challenges.
Industry insights
In speaking with clients, we know that many organizations are experiencing supply chain impacts within other areas of the business and navigating the situation in a variety of ways. So we’ve put together a few links to help you better understand, and communicate, some of the central issues impacting the moving industry:
- CNBC shipping container shortage causing costs to rise
- Hillebrand global container shortage explained
- Bloomberg container shortage video
Working together we will manage the uncertainty that the global supply chain is having on our industry. Our goal is to minimize the impact and meet your business needs as smoothly as possible. We thank our clients and customers for their continued support.
If you’d like further advice on anything contained in this update, please contact your nearest expert.
