2009/12/22 
IN THE NEWS 
The idea for this post came from a question on Linkedin: Holidays = Holi.delays? One thing is the usual Christmas/New Year slowdown. Add to that Global Warming suddenly giving the Copenhagen Agreement the cold shoulder, almost literally, causing severe weather all over Europe, the UK, and the United States, leaving travellers stranded on the Eurostar trains under the English Channel, prompting a major rethink of Eurostar’s customer service. People were stuck at airports like Frankfurt, Germany or Luton, UK. It’s the same scene everywhere, chaos, chaos and chaos and lots of people desperate to get home for the holidays. But what about their Christmas presents?
People versus Freight
Amazingly, the same thing happened last year, at least here in Norway. The news are always about the poor travellers who are stuck and cannot get anywhere, and the airlines or train operators not giving out any information, let alone compensation. While that is a sad story, what about all the goods that is transported now, just three days before Christmas. That too is stuck somewhere, but we rarely see news flashes of truck drivers stuck in snow, or perishable goods that has to be scrapped. That is not news that sells. But freezing car drivers, and freezing train passengers do sell.
Supply chain disruptions are the order of the day right now. Keeping supplies running is just as important as keeping people running. Let’s not forget about that. Without roads, let alone cleared roads, nothing really works.
Merry Christmas
As usual, I’m always late in sending my Christmas gifts to friends and family. This year is no exception, and I can only that my letters and packets will make it there in time. There’s only one thing left to say: Happy Holidelays!
Links
- linkedin.com: Holidays = Holi.delays?
- bbc.com: Cold weather cause travel disruptions
- bbc.com: Snow cause chaos at Luton
- bbc.com: Eurostar resumes services
- spiegel.de: Eis-Chaos am Airport Frankfurt
- tv2nyhetene.no: Værkaos i Europa
Related
- husdal.com: Oslo airport shutdown – lessons learned?
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But this is also a time where we can make the best money. You mostly can tell your customers before the shipping that there are possible delays so they have to deal with this risk.
That is true. Most logistics companies know that the lead during Christmas is considerably higher than in the off-season period, and will impose deadlines on when items need to be picked up in order to make sure they arrive before Christmas. But those are the “normal” delays. Severe weather is another matter that even deadlines cannot solve.