Read More about our Transportation Update

Despite many improvements in raw material availability, serious bottlenecks remain in the transportation sector. Global transportation relies on a delicate equilibrium of equipment, ocean vessels and port capacity. Since the end of 2020, this balance has been disturbed and all industries are facing many challenges with transportation, particularly from Asia to Europe.

Deliveries are seriously delayed and unpredictable due to lack of containers and vessels. Some items may face an increased transit time of 20 days, but others can be 70+ days longer than normal. Transportation costs have also increased dramatically, with companies paying up to $15,000 per container. In addition, demand continues to increase (and with it, production), but despite having finished goods ready, we can’t always get them to Europe in a timely fashion.

Medline is taking the following steps to mitigate this issue:

• We are shipping 40% of our containers directly to our local Medline-owned and operated warehouses, bypassing our central distribution centre. And our warehouses are working extra shifts.
• We are using extremely expensive airfreight (and other forms of transportation) to rush urgent deliveries to our European warehouses.
• We are using Medline’s global size, infrastructure and influence to obtain container space wherever it is most needed.

 You can also help us mitigate these bottlenecks by providing us with forecasts or orders as far in advance as possible. This helps us adjust the supply chain (to the greatest extent possible) to your demand.