In the United States, heavy snow and blizzards can occur every winter.
When the weather conditions are really bad, flights are canceled, traffic is paralyzed, schools are closed, companies are shut down, and everyone stays at home... In this case, sellers may have more orders, but flight cancellations and delays in cargo delivery will lead to a decline in on-time delivery rates, affecting sellers' performance indicators.
Since December, severe winter storms such as blizzards have continued to hit Europe, the United States and other countries.
United States: Extreme rain and snow, more than 10 states issued weather alerts
According to the Weather Service, a winter storm with winds of up to 80 mph is making landfall in the western United States on Monday, December 12, and then moves eastward, bringing blizzards in the Midwest and triggering tornadoes in the South.
Currently, nearly 15 million people in more than 10 states in the United States are facing severe weatherParts of Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska are affected.
The National Weather Service warned that the storm is expected to "develop into a possible blizzard" in the coming days, and the winter storm is expected to sweep across the United States, bringing heavy snow and heavy rainfall to some areas.
The combination of heavy snow, heavy rainfall and gusty winds will lead to urban flooding and poor travel conditions in the U.S. Motorists may encounter standing water and low visibility, and aviation delays are possible.
More than 10,000 flights in the United States were delayed or canceled
A large number of domestic and international flights in the United States were disrupted due to severe weather that forced the closure of runways.
So far, this powerful winter storm has caused thousands of flight delays in the United States.The ongoing December storm has also caused more than 10,000 flights to be delayed or canceled since Monday, according to CBS News, citing data from flight tracking website FlightAware.
In the Northeast, Natural World News also reported disruptions earlier this week, including flight delays at Boston's Logan International Airport and JFK International Airport.
In addition, the weather has also caused road closures in some western states, with up to 2 feet (60 cm) of snow expected. Among them, a 10-mile section of Interstate 80 eastbound was closed due to zero visibility, and parts of other highways were also closed. According to the weather bureau's forecast, parts of I-90 and I-94, major highways in the Midwest, may also be forced to close.
It is worth noting that sellers should note that the snowstorm has seriously affected the logistics, freight and supply chain in the United States. The delivery services of express delivery companies such as UPS, FedEx and USPS have also been delayed due to the severe snowstorm weather.
In addition, some Amazon warehouses in severely affected areas will be temporarily closed due to snowstorms, and the bad weather will make it impossible to deliver goods.
Due to the widespread suspension of flights, not only are air transport scheduling times long, but prices are also likely to rise sharply.
A freight forwarder said: "There are currently a lot of flight cancellations. The booked cargo may be delayed or changed to varying degrees, or even temporarily cancelled and delayed to the next flight. The same is true for the second leg, which may also lead to the squeezing of cargo and the occurrence of cargo pulling. All airlines cannot avoid this."
Currently, a large number of freight forwarders have issued notices, hoping that sellers will make preparations for shipment in advance and that prices need to be confirmed before shipment.
UK: Logistics disrupted by extreme cold weather, DPD warehouses severely overwhelmed
With the arrival of the cold wave, there was also heavy snow in the UK during this period and the temperature dropped sharply.
The meteorological department issued seven yellow warnings for ice, fog and snowfall, affecting England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to varying degrees.
Around 240 flights scheduled to take off and land at UK airports were cancelled on Sunday and Monday, with Stansted, Gatwick and Luton airports being the worst affected.
Due to the heavy snow, London Stansted Airport and Gatwick Airport closed their runways to clear the snow. A large number of flights were delayed or cancelled, and some incoming flights had to turn back in the air or change to Newcastle and the Dutch capital Amsterdam.
The bad weather also brought road traffic to a standstill, with the M25 motorway around London blocked for hours, and the southbound lanes of the M5 in Gloucestershire were closed due to a multi-vehicle pileup.
In terms of logistics, mail delivery services in parts of the UK will be delayed or cancelled, and parcel machines may also be disrupted. In some parts of the UK, weather conditions are so bad that the emptying and filling of parcel machines cannot be carried out. State-owned postal service Omniva said that in some cases, the operation of parcel machines may be interrupted by power outages.
In addition, affected by Amazon's warehouse congestion, the UK DPD warehouse was seriously overwhelmed. Tens of thousands of Amazon packages were stockpiled in the warehouse and could not be delivered, and the speed of product listing was slow. DPD has currently reduced the pickup of goods, and the pickup of goods sent to the UK is limited, making delivery more difficult and the delivery of goods will be affected to varying degrees.
Overall, the current logistics in the UK has been affected by a variety of factors such as blizzards, warehouse congestion, and strikes, and the logistics situation is not optimistic.
In this context, sellers who mainly focus on the North American and European markets need to strengthen communication with their logistics partners to avoid other problems caused by logistics timeliness.
In this regard, Haixi.com also reminds all seller friends that due to flight cancellations, road closures, warehouse closures, and back-end delivery delays, the on-time delivery rate of goods will decline. In addition, the large volume of goods during the peak season of the two holidays will make delays even more serious. Sellers need to pay real-time attention to the logistics situation in the United States from December to February next year and arrange stocking reasonably.
Original text from:https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/CtocYzJKsU0nyehctEfDWQ
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