Fairfield, ME, (February 24, 2022) – Parsifal Corporation is pleased to congratulate four long time employees as they reached notable anniversary milestones last year in 2021. Mark Olsen, President and CEO shared that “Parsifal is proud to claim ongoing strong retention rates with 43% of the total staff achieving a tenure of 10 years or more.” Parsifal managers, Dayle Gervais, Jackie Suarez, David Jones and Deb Hicks are recognized for their contribution to the corporate success over many years. (See full Press Release - click on Read More)

There are many factors that have contributed to the global supply chain crisis. Virtually all containers are manufactured in China, with production up 130% in 2021 over prior year and TEU prices nearly double normal levels approaching $4,000 per unit, according to reports from American Shipper this week. Now a recent report explains that container prices have dropped and may be an indication of moving past a peak in pricing. There is speculation on how container pricing will impact the supply chain congestion. (See more at link to American Shipper, “Supply chain signals: New-container prices ….,” February 15, 2022, Greg Miller, Sr. Editor)

While hundreds of truckers remained in Ottawa all of last week, other trucker convoys joined with more protesters on Saturday across Canada in other cities including Toronto and Winnipeg. In Toronto, truckers and protesters were prevented from reaching the Ontario provincial government area of Queens Park by blockades and city police. (See more at link to FreightWaves, “More Trucker convoys roll into Canadian cities protesting vaccine mandates”, February 5, 2022, by Nate Tabak)

Hundreds of truckers drove into the small downtown area of Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Saturday afternoon to protest both the Canadian and U.S. vaccine mandates at the border. The convoy was welcomed and joined by large crowds and other pedestrian vehicles also protesting many issues related to the vaccine mandates. (See more at link to FreightWaves, “Trucker convoy rumbles into Canada’s Capital …….”, January 29, 2022, Nate Tabak)

As 2021 came to a close, the Port of Los Angeles experienced four straight months (Sept. through Dec.) of import declines, with December ending 4.5 % down from previous month and down 18% compared to pre-pandemic year of 2018. The Ports of LA and Long Beach together service 40% of the import shipping containers in the U.S. Read more about how these trends possibly influence supply chain pressures at American Shipper, (“Los Angeles imports slump further as congestion throttles volume”, by Greg Miller, January 27, 2022.)

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Transport Topics reported this afternoon that “The Supreme Court has stopped the Biden administration from enforcing a requirement that employees at large businesses, including trucking companies, be vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing and wear a mask on the job.” Three of the court’s liberal justices, Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor provided a dissent explaining that the court acted outside of its area of competence. (See details at link to Transport Topics, “Supreme Court Halts COVID-19 Vaccine Rule for Large US Businesses”, January 13, 2022, Mark Sherman, Associated Press)