Snowstorm sweeps across 16 states, affecting 55 million people, and goods bound for the United States are once again...

Since the second half of this year, many things have happened in countries around the world, which have constantly affected the world's logistics situation and the logistics efficiency of sellers. Among them, there are man-made disasters, such as Brexit in the UK and strikes in France; there are also natural disasters, such as the blizzard in the United States!

According to a report by Columbia Broadcasting Corporation on the 17th, a prehistoric snowstorm swept across the United States. The snowstorm started from the Midwest of the United States and extended directly to the East Coast of the United States. A total of 16 states were severely affected along the way!

The US authorities issued warnings to 13 million people, but the number of people affected is far more than that! The US National Weather Service predicts that this round of extreme winter weather will cover areas where at least 55 million people live.

Affected by the blizzard, snow accumulation in some parts of Missouri reached 20 centimeters, many roads were congested, and traffic accidents occurred frequently . Multiple tornadoes also occurred in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama in the southern United States.

The blizzard also brought many accidental deaths! As of the afternoon of December 16, 10 people had died in the blizzard , including 4 in Missouri, 3 in Nebraska, 2 in Indiana, and 1 in Kansas.

In fact, compared with other extreme weather conditions, blizzards do not attract people's attention, but their destructive power is amazing! The vast blizzards will not only be mixed with cold air, causing a sharp drop in temperature, but also block people's vision and bring traffic hazards!

Under such extremely bad weather conditions, the transportation and education industries in the United States are once again facing severe challenges! According to U.S. media reports, more than 200 flights were delayed or canceled at St. Louis Lambert International Airport on the 15th;

On the 16th, affected by the winter storm, St. Louis Public Schools in Missouri canceled classes for about 30,000 students . More industries are expected to be affected in the future. For transportation, road transportation covered by snow will be the most affected!

In fact, it is not uncommon for the United States to be hit by blizzards, and there are early signs! Geographically, the terrain of the United States is "low in the center and high on both sides", and there is no large east-west mountain range. This causes the cold air in the Arctic Circle to move quickly southward in winter, suddenly forming blizzard weather!

At the end of November, this year's number one snowstorm swept across the United States, with a thickness of 15 cm to 30 cm, affecting states from California to the Midwest and the East Coast, seriously hampering land and air transportation, and nearly 4,000 flights were canceled or delayed.

The blizzard also caused a small passenger plane carrying nine people to crash. Although rescue workers braved the cold weather, no one survived in the end!

It is currently the peak season for logistics. Crew members transporting goods to North America in the next two months need to protect their own safety.

Affected by the snowstorm, the on-time delivery rates of major express delivery companies have all declined! According to data from consulting firm ShipMatrix, during this year's "Shopping Monday" in the United States, FedEx's on-time delivery rate was 90.4% . The U.S. Postal Service was 92.3%, United Parcel Service (UPS) was 92.7%, and Amazon's truck drivers had an on-time delivery rate of 93.7%. These figures have all declined compared to the same period!

Since express carriers handle tens of millions of packages every day, even a small drop in on-time delivery rates will affect many customers. Such delivery rates caused dissatisfaction on the part of Amazon, so it decided to make an example of FedEx and stop cooperating with it!

Although FedEx protested that this was because Amazon expected the number of packages this year to be twice that of last year, coupled with the bad weather in the United States in recent weeks causing delivery delays!

But Amazon still doesn't fully buy in, and only agrees that sellers can use FedEx's faster service or the more expensive Express service.

Although this ban is a war between Amazon and FedEx, it will also have an adverse impact on sellers! As a FedEx representative said: " While it may only affect a few sellers, it will limit the options for small merchants on the highest demand shipping day in history ." All of this may be to blame, only the snowstorm!

At present, the blizzard in the United States is still continuing, and the pressure on aviation, port and road transportation still exists! In the disaster weather, freight forwarders need to pay attention to the movement of goods at all times to give sellers peace of mind; and crew members, while ensuring the safety of the goods, must also protect their own safety!