Federal Budget and Shipping

The topic of federal budget cuts has been all over the news these past few weeks and it seems to have many people in a panic. People are wondering how these cuts are going to affect them and companies in the shipping industry are no different. They wonder if there will be tax increases or other strains on their already stretched budgets since many are already concerned for the future.

The problem is that their concerns are not unfounded. Cuts in the federal budget will impact more than one area of transportation and logistics in America. Furloughs seem to be a major concern since there are so many government workers involved with international shipping. Furlough days for US Customs alone could have a huge impact on our borders as well as at the ports. With the economy creeping along, the freight shipping industry cannot afford any more slowdowns and furlough days will do just that.

On top of furlough days without working, those people in the jobs will be stuck with lower paychecks. Lower paychecks mean less spending and less spending means less demand and so on and so forth essentially affecting many companies across the United States. Some people are predicting that furloughs could push the economy back down for an unlimited amount of time. That would not be good for supply chains wishing to ship international cargo.

While most people do not see the federal budget as affecting them to that extreme, there can be a domino affect with these types of changes. Hopefully lawmakers will be smart about any new laws so that there can be gradual changes to limit any negative outcomes for the international shipping industry.