The newly-expanded Panama Canal was opened on June 26, 2016. Three years later, we addressed the impact that the Panama Canal expansion had made on supply chains to that point.

In the last week of December 2021, more than 100 container ships were anchored outside the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. While that wasn’t the all-time high up until that point, the sheer number shows just how backed up the international supply chain currently is as we begin the new year. With that said, 2021 was a year that shippers, especially those involved with imports, will never forget.

On January 22nd, the U.S. government issued a rule that requires truck drivers entering the country to be fully vaccinated. Notably, this applies to Canadian and Mexican truck drivers that are heavily involved in the cross-border flow of materials and products to and from the U.S. The impact of the new rule could have consequences for many shippers and supply chains that rely on cross-border trade.

Mexico became the top trade partner of the U.S. for the very first time in 2019. Though the title went back to China for 2020, Mexico took the crown again throughout the majority of last year. Adding fuel to the fire that is growing trade throughout North America is the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) which went into effect in July 2020. The strength of trade between the three nations may become even stronger due to the challenges seen during the pandemic.

The challenges at the ports and with strained capacity on the road have many shippers seeking alternative solutions. And given that 57% of the respondents in the 7th annual State of the North American Supply Chain Survey experienced delays with their truckload moves in 2021, it makes sense to see a surge in interest for air and rail services.

One of the biggest misconceptions of the driver shortage is that it refers to all truck drivers in general. While there is a continued need to fill driver positions of all types, it is the over-the-road positions that are the hardest to fill.

In the 7th annual State of the North American Survey, 76% of our respondents said they will ship more this year (an all-time high for our survey). We also gave shippers a list of 20 different services and asked them to select the ones they used in 2021. All but one service saw a slight decline in use compared to 2020. Ninety-six percent of respondents said they used less-than-truckload (LTL) services in 2021. That marked a 2 percentage point uptick from the previous year.

During the first year of the pandemic, online shopping surged as more consumers sought an alternative to crowded marketplaces. According to Digital Commerce 360 (DC360), e-commerce sales experienced an astounding 32.4% year-over-year growth in 2020. Last year, however, the widespread availability of vaccines and periods of lower COVID-19 cases led more shoppers back out into the brick-and-mortar environment.

In late 2021, we asked shippers to participate in our 7th annual State of the North American Supply Chain survey. The purpose of the survey is gauge the challenges that shippers faced over the course of 2021, and to gain a better understanding of what they believe will be their biggest challenges in 2022.