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Small distributor says spiking shipping costs are driving up prices in Georgia

Regal Lager, Inc. imports baby products to Kennesaw. They are experiencing a rise in shipping costs due to the pandemic, the labor shortage and inflation.

KENNESAW, Ga. — The cost of shipping goods to the United States is skyrocketing. 

A small distributor in Georgia said they're getting hammered by the rise in costs, that have increased four-fold over the past year. 

Experts said it's because of a number of factors coming together. From uncertainty due to the pandemic to the labor shortage and rising inflation, they said consumers are going to end up paying more for the products they love.

Regal Lager, Inc. imports baby products to Kennesaw. 

"We are not a big company. We import about 250 containers on an annual basis. So we can't have a big contract like a Walmart or Home Depot that brings in hundreds of thousands of containers," Regal Lager's President Bengt Lager said. 

For example, Lager said if they are waiting on a shipment of strollers from Asia, a year ago it cost the company $4,000 to bring them to the U.S. This year, the company was quoted $25,000 for the same container.

"We just have to pay the rates that the shipping companies offer to us. We have no bargaining power whatsoever. These rates have just gone through the roof," he said. 

Lager said the size of the baby items his company brings over makes the problem worse. He said if they were shipping iPhones, he could fit 10,000 in each container. When the cost per container goes up to $15,000, it would cost $1.50 per iPhone to ship. 

However, it's different for shipping diaper pails. 

"So if the price goes up $15,000, each one of these are hit with an extra $15. Compared to what we used to pay for the shipping and that's what makes it difficult," he said.

Lager also said the shipping industry is not regulated to prevent massive price increases like this and there's not anything they can do about it. 

"We can't just absorb these costs unfortunately. Eventually, we have to push this onto our prices," he said. 

The cost of shipping diaper pails, pictured below, is going up to $10 starting Wednesday, Sept. 1. 

Credit: 11Alive

"We are trying to hold back as much as we possibly can, but our hand is forced here," he said. 

Lager said 30 years ago, he located his company to Georgia because of the close proximity to Savannah's port, which made shipping more convenient and cheaper. However, he said with the national labor shortage, it means there's not enough drivers to bring their goods here. There's also not enough people working at the port to move the goods so that's driving up costs as well, Lager said. 

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