News Updates

DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express

7/27/2021

Dear Valued Customer:

With the (exploding) return of tourists, restocking of shelves, and increasing inventory levels of various building materials in Hawaii, Matson Navigation Company ("Matson") had not foreseen the tremendous increase in demand for their services and use of their vessels.

As a result, a chassis shortage has developed in Honolulu, and a 40-foot container shortage is currently being experienced in Seattle.

How has this impacted you and us as your carrier?

First and foremost, we apologize for what you may perceive will be late deliveries. We usually call and schedule your delivery in Honolulu based on Matson's advised estimates of container availability on Oahu. Unfortunately, these estimates now have proven to be incorrect, as containers to be released to us could not be loaded onto chassis in Honolulu and sit at the Honolulu Port waiting for equipment to be loaded onto. The end result is that we are calling customers today to cancel their shipment deliveries. In the foreseeable future, until this equipment shortage works itself out, we will not call our Oahu Customers and schedule these deliveries until we actually have the container in hand and can deliver what we promise. Based on what we are experiencing, currently, delivery delays of up to 3 days may be experienced.

We are working with Matson in Seattle to ensure we have the equipment we need to assure your carriage into the Islands. This has not yet become an issue where cargo has stopped moving due to a lack of equipment and we're hoping to keep the freight moving with no disruption of service- just a lot of juggling of various resources.

We have spoken to management at Matson and know they are working hard to alleviate these equipment issues. That being said, in today's logistics environment, there is no quick fix- particularly for the Honolulu equipment shortage. Accordingly, we will continue to work with Matson to move all of the containers we have sailing with them off their Honolulu dock and into our facility as quickly as possible.

We apologize for the delays you and your cargo are experiencing and want you to be aware we are working closely with Matson's management to rectify the situation as quickly as possible- a period of time that could extend another month or so.

Should you have any questions, don't hesitate to get in touch with your local DHX office or Representative, or call us at (800) 488-4888, Ext. 2020.

Thank you for your patience and your business- we appreciate it!