From a world’s away, to your front door

At a time when restaurants, grocery stores, malls, and everything in between were locked down, I, like many others, took to Tik Tok to pass the time. It was there that I was introduced to fast fashion and the spectacle of SHEIN hauls.

Of course, I couldn’t help but indulge.

However, I never really thought about the journey my clothes took, from the moment I checked out to the moment they arrived at my front door. Most U.S. online shoppers don’t.

In 2021, U.S. shoppers spent $768 billion on online retail alone, an increase of $124 billion from the year prior. That’s not a surprise considering consumption makes up the highest portion of the U.S. GDP. For reference, the GDP was $22.996 trillion that same year.

So, when we purchase a T-shirt online for $9.00 USD, where does it come from? That depends. Let’s take a look at SHEIN, for example, the e-commerce company based in China, with a valuation of $100 billion. Once shipped out of China, one of their first destinations is to a warehouse located outside of Los Angeles, California.

For many e-commerce retailers like SHEIN, having a warehouse located in Los Angeles is efficient, considering its proximity to the Port of Los Angeles, one of the “world’s busiest seaports” for international trade in North America. It’s also the largest container port in the United States.

Every year, the Port of Los Angeles oversees thousands of cargo ships carrying TEUs, also known as Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units, carrying billions of U.S. dollars worth in commodities. Last year, 10.7 million TEUs were received at the Port of Los Angeles, heading to thousands of different destinations in North America. Since the introduction of TEUs, they’ve reshaped economies all over the world, making it easier to trade and stay connected everywhere.

Let’s say, hypothetically, SHEIN shipped your T-shirt via a cargo ship that carries these TEUs. Your T-shirt is one of $434.7 billion worth of goods imported from China, making up 18.6% of all U.S. imports.

It typically takes 12 days for ships to travel from Asia to North America. Traveling times are so precise that ports can expect ships to arrive within hours of their estimated arrival.

At the port, cargo ships are unloaded using a system of 220-foot cranes that can carry up to 50 tons each. TEUs are placed on land, awaiting transportation via truck.

However, it’s here that any hiccup in processing can cause a massive delay in the supply chain. This was evident in the peak of the pandemic, where the shortage of crane operators, truckers, tug boat operators, and other Port of LA employees caused a holdup simply because there weren’t enough people to process all incoming imports.

In this scenario, let’s say there is no shortage of labor, and that everything went smoothly unloading at the port, and now your T-shirt is on its way to SHEIN’s Los Angeles warehouse on the back of a truck.

Within hours, your T-shirt has made it to its destination. After processing and shipping, and a couple of days later, it has been delivered to your apartment through USPS.

Your T-shirt is just one example of the millions of commodities that travel on this highly interconnected global network, every single day. This network continues to grow in efficiency, whether it be the construction of larger cargo ships, the expansion of seaports, or new innovations to TEUs, it’s evident that economies around the globe depend heavily on these systems.

So, next time you order online, perhaps some jeans next time, take into consideration the sheer amount of systems that are involved in your transaction, even for just a pair of jeans.