b'FEBRUARY 2024AUTO LOGISTICS 35(VOLATILEcontinuedpoundinEuropehasbeendeal with an unbalanced Eastnotes that automotive organi- tion of 19% by 2025, as electric from page 34) fullforages.Thereisliter- to West flow in Europe. Sure,zations now feel more confi- vehicle production surges and as well as the supply of vehi- ally nowhere to put vehicleswe see Tesla ramping up pro- denttotacklefuturesupplythe fabrication of key electron-cle-carryingships,Sturgeonandtheresultingportcon- duction in Germanythoughchain disruptions. ics components relocates.said: In Europe, road trans- gestionforcesmanyshipstheystillimportmanyvehi- To achieve this, automak- Drivenbyasurgein port capacity has improved atowaitoutsidesomeportscles from China and the US ers have been forced to rethink,effortstodeliversoftware-littlenot just due to trans- beforetheycanload/unloadand the likes of Chinas BYDrestructure, and refinance theirbasedfeaturesandservices, porter fleets increasing againand these delays also reducenowplanningproductioninsupplychainmanagement.theaverageproportionof butalsotosomereductionthe effective capacity of theHungary,butthemostnota- While issues have been stabi- vehiclevalueattributedto indemand.ManyOEMssector, he added. ble, current (re-location) trendlized in the short-term, supplysemiconductorsandsensors stillleasededicatedtrucksappearstobeinMoroccochainsarestilltransforminghas increased considerably in inordertosecurecapac- (North Africa) which is takingduetotheircomplexityandrecent years and is expected ity,buttheseareoperated(BACKDROPcontinuedproduction further from Euro- evolvingfactors:theaccel- to increase by a further 46% inefficiently(oftenrunningfrom page 34) pean markets! eration of electric vehicle (EV)between 2023 and 2025.empty on the return leg). TheAssociation of European Vehi- In the Americas, Mexicoproduction, the new regulatoryHowever,onlyhalfof sector really needs to returncle Logistics, said there wasis fast-becoming a near-shor- andgovernmentpolicies,andOEMsconsiderthecur-to a normal way of workinglittle recent evidence of near- ingoptionforautomakers.the adoption of more software- rentsupplyofsemiconduc-whereLSPsoptimizetruckshoringgainingmomentumParts production has climbedbasedfeatureslikeADAStor components as secure. Of capacity and minimize emptyin the automotive industry intorecordlevels,wellabove(AdvancedDriverAssis- those surveyed by Capgemini running. Until this is allowedEurope. pre-pandemicvolumes,toatance Systems), increasing theResearch, 70% said the major-tohappen,costsandotherHe pointed rather to thepointwhereconcernshavedemand for semiconductors. ity of supply is currently being associated measures, such asconsiderable amount of pro- been raised as to the capac- A global re-orchestrationobtained from China, Taiwan, emissions, will continue to beduction capacity that was cre- ityofthecountrysportstois underway with procurementJapan, and South Korea. In a higher than they need to be. ated in Eastern Europe 20-30handlethesurgeinflows,fromoffshorelocationsfall- bid to achieve a greater level yearsagototakeadvantagealong with other traffic. ing sharply, Europe leading theof supply-security OEMs are t ruCkD riverS turning of cheap land and labor. Initspaper,Theauto- way,followedbyAPACandinvesting in alternative supply tOa utOl OgiStiCS Thiswasahugeshift,motive supply chain: Pursu- the US. And the Institute fur- methodsandmovingaway Turningtodrivershort- andthevehiclelogisticsing long-term resilience, thether underlines that automotive(BACKDROPcontinued ages, a global issue, Sturgeonindustry continues to have toCapgemini Research Instituteplayers expect a further reduc- on page 38)said the pressure has eased for the moment but only because of theeconomicdownturn.ThisWelcomehasresultedinlessdemand for general haulage and led to more drivers coming into auto-motive logistics.But be in no doubt; thisto the Port ofsituationistemporarytheB altimoredriver shortage has not gone away and in fact will get much, muchworseinthecoming years, Sturgeon warned.Asforoceanshipping, he said capacity was reduced in 2020/21 and then demand fromAsiastartedgrowing rapidly. In the deep-sea sector especially, a huge number of orderswereplacedforvery large car-carrying ships from late-2022whenorderbooks were at almost zero.Someoftheseships have already entered service and many more will be deliv-eredinthenext2-3years. Theyhadbeenexpectedto bringdeepseasupplyand demand back into some sort ofbalance.However,the situation in the Red Sea has changedallofthatassail-ingsfromAsiatoEurope are now being routed around Africa adding up to 10 days to a journey. Overnight, this haseffectivelyreducedthe capacity in this sector signifi-cantly and also created a new crisis in the short-sea trade as thedeepseavesselsareno longerpassingthroughthe Mediterranean Sea.On-Dock RailHeexplainedthatsome vehicles therefore get dropped offinthewrongport,for 50-Foot Deep Berthsexample, in Northern Europe andneedtoberepositioned Less Than Two Miles to Interstate 95by the short-sea fleet. Others used to be picked up enroute by deep-sea vessels, for exam-Closest East Coast Port to the Midwestple,vehiclesbuiltinTurkey destinedfortheEuropean A Large Regional Distribution Center Networkmarket and will now need to be picked up by short-sea ser-Access to 2/3 of the U.S. Population Within 24 Hoursvices instead.In addition, vehicle stocks are generally now very highMarylandports.com 1.800.638.7519andalmosteveryportter-Governor Wes MooreMDOT Secretary Paul. J. Wiedefeld Executive Director Jonathan Daniels minalandcarstoragecom-'