This is a letter that I received in regard to lead times and the ongoing port strikes. Due to the fact that so much window treatment product is made overseas, this industry is facing long delays. Even small parts can cause significant delays. If you are looking at a deadline, you will want to order far in advance to avoid delays. This will affect blinds, shades, shutters and maybe even some drapery treatments. Reno and Lake Tahoe jobs will be just as affected as other parts of the country.

Again, the following letter was sent out by a major supplier of window treatments:

Dear Valued Customers-

We understand that over the last few months many of you have experienced longer than usual lead times on various products. Please know that the Lafayette team has been in constant contact with our freight broker to track the delivery of our shipments and we felt it important to share with you what we know.

We have been informed that major backlogs at all U.S. Ports, spanning the East and West Coasts as well as all Canadian Ports, are causing 3 – 6 week delays for all inbound overseas shipments. At the moment, we cannot predict the exact date of arrival for our shipments, but we are told containers and LCL ocean shipments are moving; just very slowly.

In the meantime, we are working to air ship as much material as possible to bring everything back in supply. Unfortunately, the higher demand for air shipments has also resulted in extended air shipment delivery times of 2 – 3 weeks.

Please accept our apology for this delay. We will continue to do everything possible to expedite our deliveries and to keep you updated as we receive more information from our freight broker.

Thank you for your understanding and patience.