Jan Bednář on US logistics woes: not as bad as COVID for e-commerce

American businesses are complaining that the current situation is worse than during the pandemic, but Czech entrepreneurs operating in the US are taking a calmer view. Among them is Jan Bednář, founder of the logistics company ShipMonk and number 45 on the list of the richest Czechs, who thinks the panicked comparisons to COVID are overblown.

American media outlets and the analysts they've interviewed describe the current situation with oil, gas and logistics prices as more severe than during the COVID-19 pandemic. Diesel prices in the US have passed 37 crowns a litre — back in January they were below 20 crowns. The situation has been made worse by attacks on oil refineries, the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, typhoons in Shanghai, and trade tariffs introduced by the Donald Trump administration.

Jan Bednář, however, believes a lot depends on the sector. “Volatility and rising fuel prices certainly aren't helping the supply chain, but I definitely wouldn't say it's worse than COVID. Maybe it is for some sectors, but for e-commerce the situation isn't nearly as dramatic,” the entrepreneur says.

According to him, carriers have already built the rising costs into the variable part of their rates, so there has been no sharp blow to business so far. “We're certainly watching the situation, but so far nothing has been extremely dramatic. A lot depends on how long it lasts,” the Czech billionaire notes.

Other Czech businesspeople operating in the US market share a similar view — for example, representatives of the arms holding Colt CZ Group and the head of Linet's American division, who likewise don't see the kind of complete supply-chain standstill that marked the pandemic, although they acknowledge that logistics in the US today are considerably more expensive and less predictable than a year ago.