大使桥梁封锁是期望供应链中意外的另一个例子

Expecting the unexpected has become a core part of the logistics and supply chain playbook in recent years. It is fair to say that, at least initially, the disruptions at the Detroit-Windsor Ambassador Bridge fell into that “unexpected” grouping, to be sure.

Before going any further, this column is not me getting political and telling people they must get vaccinated or not. Free speech is a right we all have, and people on both sides of the border, when it comes to the pandemic and vaccinations, have made their cases clear, for whatever their beliefs are, and that is fine.

但是，与此同时，在上周日美国和加拿大之间的跨境交通之前，中断对北美供应链的影响留下了痕迹。

举个例子，底特律自由报的报告，，，，citing data from the Anderson Economic Group, an East Lansing, Mich.-based economic research firm, said that the protesting at the Ambassador Bridge came at the expense of the auto industry, to the tune of more than $250 million, a staggering sum no matter how it is measured.

此外，该公司还补充说：“在短短一周内，包括通用汽车，福特，克莱斯勒，本田和丰田在内的汽车制造商估计损失了1.55亿美元。在几个小时内，组装植物的短缺和放缓陷入困境。”

使这两个惊人的总和。

美国商会，全国制造商和商业协会圆桌会议在2月10日发表的联合声明中，当抗议活动保持如火如荼地进行，对这些中断如何对贸易流和商品运动产生负面影响。

“我们看到在美加两国的中断border — at the Detroit-Windsor Ambassador Bridge and at other crossings — are adding to the significant supply chain strains on manufacturers and other businesses in the United States,” the organizations said. “The business community is rolling up its sleeves to find workarounds and keep facilities up and running, but we are already seeing some production cuts, shift reductions, and temporary plant closures. The North American economy relies on our ability to work closely together, including our manufacturing sectors. We need to apply the same spirit of cooperation to tackle this problem.”

There are some very good points made in that statement, make no mistake. Should the protests and disruption head south into the U.S., as has been reported, it stands to reason these types of problems could persist to different extents.

FTR运输情报局董事长兼首席执行官埃里克·斯塔克斯（Eric Star万博ag客户端appks）解释说，从供应链和物流操作的角度来看，这些抗议和破坏会导致托运人的短期头痛，取决于其特定的垂直行业。

“The automotive sector obviously got hit particularly hard with this caravan crossing blockade,” he said. “The thing about that, though—and it is just a gut feeling as to how I personally see the situation, is that this was probably a good thing for the auto sector, in the sense that it was continuing to have supply chain problems, specifically as it relates to chips,” he said. “In essence, having a couple days down here and there is not going to hurt them, because they are not running at full capacity. Over a longer-term, yes, it structurally creates some issues. From everything we have seen, it has not hurt overall production levels, at least at what we expect them to be between now and mid-summer. Chip availability will continue to be the real constraint.”

鉴于这种情况的政治要素，斯塔克斯补充说，总是有可能谨慎谨慎的领域，并补充说，他没有看到有关商队进入美国的潜力的任何具体问题，因为它与之相关的是从长远来看，导致某些问题过于问题，而不是在各个领域的额外麻烦和头痛。

Matthew Moroun, Chairman of the Detroit International Bridge Co. that owns Ambassador Bridge, and Chairman of Universal Logistics holding company, told Mike Regan, Chief Relationship Officer for TranzAct Technologies, that until these recent events the Ambassador Bridge had never closed, having previously survived the Great Depression, World War II, and September 11th, but “somehow, the truckers figured out how to shut it down—something that has never been done in its 93 year history,” the interview noted.

莫伦（Moroun）在采访中补充说，关闭表明卡车司机“知道供应链的运作方式比大多数其他人，即使是在供应链中起作用的'suits'以及政治和执法领域的领导人”。

“Since the number of drivers is finite and there is no elasticity in finding more drivers that have been vetted by the Canadian and U.S. governments, shippers are likely to see cross-border shipments delayed for the next couple of weeks,” it added.

Regardless of the reasons, the unexpected always seems to occur more quickly than even anticipated. That said, these days continue to be significant in that sense, with the situation at the Ambassador Bridge serving as the most recent example. What happens should the caravan make its way into the U.S. is unclear just yet, but it is something all stakeholders need to keep a watchful eye on.