Bears, I'm not the one in need of a reality check. I know a few people who work in logistics, primarily moving containers to/from Asia to the US.
There are already ships who rerouted weeks ago at the height of the lockout. It was cheaper for them to get to an open port, unload, and get back to sea than it was to sit loaded at anchor.
Some of those companies will work out the costs and come to the realization that the cost of a few more days at sea are offset by the lower port charges (and faster turnaround?) at the Gulf and East Coast ports, plus they can eliminate the time it takes UPRR and BNSF to get those containers east of the Mississippi and interchanged to CSX or NS. In some cases, they skip the railroad altogether and just hit the road for the last miles direct from the docks.
It all comes down to money. If PMA and ILWU's costs go up, people will always look to see if they can keep their costs flat.
That's reality. PMA knows it. ILWU seems to be putting their head in the sand a bit on the issue.
