To say that the past couple of years have been rough is maybe the understatement of all understatements. No matter who you are or where you live, COVID-19 has probably affected your life in ways you could have never imagined.
While it may not be a case of life and death, the pandemic’s recent assault on the global supply chain has left industries around the world scrambling—including those of us in portable storage.
And that only creates more headaches for you.
That’s why we thought we would take a quick moment to describe exactly how supply chain issues have hit the portable storage industry and what you can do to avoid potential setbacks.
Container Storage & Supply
First things first. You know those supplies you’re waiting on? The ones that are either stuck at sea or sitting at a port somewhere? Well, they are in our containers.
Virtually all of the storage containers in the world are produced overseas and when we purchase them, they load them up with supplies to make that voyage across the ocean worthwhile. So, when your supplies are stuck, so are ours.
That’s problem number one.
Problem number two is that the scarcity of supplies has meant that the overseas manufacturers haven’t wanted to give up their containers and instead have had them just shipped right back to them.
Put it all together, and at SiteBox Storage, we’ve been waiting for 300 containers for more than a year.
Container Storage & Demand
To amplify the fact that supply is down, demand is also up—way up.
It’s happened because as supplies have slowly begun to come in, some businesses have suddenly found themselves with a surplus, either as the result of back-ordered supplies arriving at the same time as new orders, or purchasing managers over-ordering to avoid a future shortage.
The result is that we’ve heard from new customers almost daily. That could be residential home builders looking for a way to store raw materials or health care institutions needing a place to stash a surplus of hand sanitizer or any other in the myriad of industries that use containers to meet their storage needs.
How Supply & Demand Effects Container Pricing
When supplies are down, and demand is up … you guessed it, the price of containers is also up.
At SiteBox, we have found ourselves in a bidding war with companies all over the world—leading to containers costing nearly three times what they did only a couple of years ago and providing little incentive for manufacturers to increase production.
What you can do
With so much being out of your control, supply chain issues can be especially difficult to deal with. Our best advice is to communicate early and often with your storage unit provider. We can't speak for all portable storage container companies, but at SiteBox Storage, we will always do what we can to meet the needs of our existing customers.
By planning ahead, you can hopefully avoid bottlenecks and keep your operation running smoothly.
Contact us today to learn more about the current inventory at SiteBox Storage or to find out more about portable storage
