Baltimore bridge collapse creates shipping headaches at major auto hub

"Since the terminal is located at the harbor entrance, in front of the bridge, it can still be accessed. We are in contact with our logistics partner," BMW spokesperson Phil DiIanni said in a statement. The facility can process as many as 100,000 BMW vehicles annually.

Volkswagen spokesperson Mark Gillies said in a statement the company's "port operations are not affected by this incident as our Baltimore facility is located on the seaboard of the bridge collapse," adding VW in 2023 received, processed and shipped about 100,000 vehicles through Baltimore for dealers in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic United States.

"We do not anticipate any impact on vessel operations, but there may be trucking delays as traffic will be rerouted in the area," Gillies said. A Tradepoint Atlantic spokesperson confirmed its terminals weren't expected to be hampered and would "resume normal operations once the immediate rescue and recovery activities" are complete.

Beyond autos, the Port of Baltimore also specializes in handling farm and construction machinery, sugar, gypsum, and coal, while cruises also frequently depart from there. In all last year, the port's public and private terminals handled 52.3 million tons of cargo worth $80 billion, officials reported.

Prepared for interruptions

Since the COVID-19 supply chain interruptions that resulted in plant shutdowns week after week in 2021, automakers and their suppliers have adapted by ensuring they have clear lines of visibility into their supply chains. These measures of finding out where supplies come from and where they are at any given time are to avoid halting production and, consequentially, losing money.

"Time is money is definitely true," AlixPartners' Hearsch said. "We can't afford in our industry, additional costs and loss that is just because we're not paying attention."

Hearsch equated the Baltimore port situation to what automakers dealt with when the Ambassador Bridge closed in 2022 because of a coronavirus restriction protest by Canadian truck drivers. It reopened after a week, which caused production interruptions for the Detroit Three and other automakers.

"This is probably a little less impactful than that, in terms of you'll have product that is currently in that port waiting to go someplace and that's going to be stuck for a little bit," he said.

Hearsch doesn't expect to see plants shut down as a result of the incident: "There's a question mark of how long is that port really shut down. It's shut down during the investigation, but I don't believe there's any damage to the port that would cause it to be shut down for weeks or months."

He added that "the capacity there can be absorbed by the other ports along the eastern seaboard ... and longer-term probably this isn't terribly crippling."