Nike, which is based in Beaverton, Ore., said the backlog would cause delivery delays and increase air freight costs, but it could not assess the effect of the closings on future results.
And none of the products it announced last week -- a new MacBook, new iMacs with 21.5-inch and 27-inch displays or a new Magic Mouse (above) -- can account for one of the factors that Apple gave last week in explaining its estimate of a falling gross margin for its coming quarter: an abnormal increase in air freight costs.
Besides food and medical supplies, support has been received for air freight costs, which can be extremely expensive.
Increased air-freight costs over the past 18 months have passed on to customers at local shops, who are buying less as a result.
For instance, air freight and ocean shipping costs have plunged by as much as two-thirds since last summer as demand has fallen.
Still, other executives said that the higher cost of air freight and environmental considerations continue to limit the expansion of that sector.
These are the impediments to the movement of people and goods brought on by Sept. 11: the wasted hours of employees showing IDs to get into their building, the delays at the airport, the backlog of trucks at the border, the increased cost of air freight, the dead weight of higher insurance premiums.
These are the impediments to the movement of people and goods brought on by Sept. 11: the wasted hours of employees showing proof of identification to get in their building, the delays at the airport, the backlog of trucks at the border, the increased cost of air freight, the dead weight of higher insurance premiums.
In contrast, orders placed sufficiently in advance of their desired delivery date can be shipped via ocean, with savings of more than 60% when compared with the cost of air freight.
Cost Plus, for instance, has used air freight for some time-sensitive items, and that costs about 10 times what sea freight does, said Jeff Turner, who oversees supply chain and store operations.
As space becomes ever tighter, the cost of shipping air freight will increase.
