Supply Chain Problem

[Thoughtful Monk]

For several years, we've ordered our pet food from Chewy. For several months, the orders have come in regularly.

Interestingly, this week's order has been delayed for about one week. Not sure what the cause is as it's our standard order.

I'm not sure: fluke or signs supply chain issues are returning?

[Cow Poke]

You know how Washington could fix this? By simply walking away and letting private industry be its own solution. I bet things would be back to normal within a month.

You think it would take that long?

[Mountain Man]

You know how Washington could fix this? By simply walking away and letting private industry be its own solution. I bet things would be back to normal within a month.

[Cow Poke]

Just finished putting in a home-delivery grocery order. More items are now showing as out-of-stock. Interestingly, beef (roast, steak, hamburger) seems the most unavailable right now. Still mostly able what we want.

US food supply is under pressure, from plants to store shelves

Weeks of workers calling in sick add to continuing supply and transportation disruptions, making store shelves harder to fill

In Arizona, one in 10 processing plant and distribution workers at a major produce company were recently out sick. In Massachusetts, employee illnesses have slowed the flow of fish to supermarkets and restaurants. A grocery chain in the U.S. Southeast had to hire temporary workers after roughly one-third of employees at its distribution centers fell ill.

Food-industry executives and analysts warn that the situation could persist for weeks or months, even as the current wave of COVID-19 infections eases. Recent virus-related absences among workers have added to continuing supply and transportation disruptions, keeping some foods scarce.

Nearly two years ago, COVID-19 lockdowns drove a surge in grocery buying that cleared store shelves of products such as meat, baking ingredients and paper goods.

Now some executives say supply challenges are worse than ever. The lack of workers leaves a broader range of products in short supply, food-industry executives said, with availability sometimes changing daily.

Supermarket operators and food makers say that overall supplies are ample, despite the continuing labor shortages and difficulties transporting goods. They say that shoppers will find what they are looking for, but may have to opt for different brands.

Eddie Quezada, produce manager at a Stop & Shop store in Northport, N.Y., said omicron has stretched his department more than any previous wave of the pandemic, with one in five of his staff contracting COVID-19 in early January. Deliveries also have taken a hit, he said: Earlier in the month he received only 17 of the 48 cases of strawberries he had ordered.

[Thoughtful Monk]

Just finished putting in a home-delivery grocery order. More items are now showing as out-of-stock. Interestingly, beef (roast, steak, hamburger) seems the most unavailable right now. Still mostly able what we want.

[Cow Poke]

The only evidence given in your article for the claim that "the ships are not being unloaded in a timely fashion" was the number of ships waiting to be unloaded. Completely ignored is another possible reason why a large number of ships would be waiting to be unloaded. (Such an oversight is not exactly unexpected from the National Review, which would of course take any opportunity to criticize unions.)

The real reason why there was a large number of ships waiting to be unloaded is that ships (and particularly containers) were arriving at a much higher rate than they ever had before. That can be seen by the record number of containers passing through the port. And of course the record number of containers is because of the buying habits of American consumers, along with suppliers wanting to get their goods here ahead of their competitors.

You can play Battling News Articles if you want, but you'll need a better article.

I would be surprised if ANY article would convince you, so I'll not waste my time.

[Thoughtful Monk]

My last trip to the grocery store I could only get 5 of the 9 items I actually needed. It would have been four but I bought a different brand which I will not be doing again.

I've been reminded that one favorite of ours has been out-of-stock for at least a month now. Fortunately, it's a comfort food and not a necessity.

[Stoic]

By the way, we can play Battling News Articles all day long...

Unions Have Made Supply-Chain Problems Worse

The only evidence given in your article for the claim that "the ships are not being unloaded in a timely fashion" was the number of ships waiting to be unloaded. Completely ignored is another possible reason why a large number of ships would be waiting to be unloaded. (Such an oversight is not exactly unexpected from the National Review, which would of course take any opportunity to criticize unions.)

The real reason why there was a large number of ships waiting to be unloaded is that ships (and particularly containers) were arriving at a much higher rate than they ever had before. That can be seen by the record number of containers passing through the port. And of course the record number of containers is because of the buying habits of American consumers, along with suppliers wanting to get their goods here ahead of their competitors.

You can play Battling News Articles if you want, but you'll need a better article.

[Cow Poke]

Yes, Walmart used to have big placards around their stores identifying which US businesses they purchased from. Those started disappearing around the time Bill Clinton named China a "favored nation", and these days, Walmart is all but synonymous with "Made in China". I think Sam Walton would be very disappointed if he knew what has become of his company.

I often watch Shark Tank, and it's amazing how, at one point, the "Sharks" were always telling prospective merchants "you HAVE to have your production offshore to get your margins up", but lately I've seen a couple episodes where the guy pitching his product says he wants to keep his hometown employed, and the "Sharks" applaud him.

[Mountain Man]

Yeah, not that, in the grand scheme of things, it makes all that much difference, but it gives me a sense of satisfaction. And, if enough people do it, it WILL make a difference.

I remember years ago Walmart ran a big "Made in America" campaign. Seems that got undone. (Looks like that was mid 80s)

WAL-MART'S 'BUY AMERICAN'

Sam M. Walton, the down- home Arkansas retail executive, is upset about the flood of imports, and he is aiming to do something about it.

As the chairman of Wal- Mart Stores, a 753-unit discount chain that operates largely in rural communities, Mr. Walton, who Forbes has estimated to be worth more than $2 billion, sees his small- town customers losing their jobs as factories close because of imports.

In February, he wrote to 3,000 American manufacturers and wholesalers telling them that the chain wanted to buy more American goods. ''Our continued success depends on our mutual reaction to a very serious problem with regard to our balance of trade deficit,'' he said in the letter. Wal- Mart reports that so far it has written new orders with four suppliers as a result of the 66-year-old Mr. Walton's appeal.

That was then.

Yes, Walmart used to have big placards around their stores identifying which US businesses they purchased from. Those started disappearing around the time Bill Clinton named China a "favored nation", and these days, Walmart is all but synonymous with "Made in China". I think Sam Walton would be very disappointed if he knew what has become of his company.

[Cow Poke]

It turns out we probably can't really blame the truckers or the dockworkers.

Source: https://localnews8.com/money/cnn-business-consumer/2022/01/04/port-of-los-angeles-traffic-sets-record-in-2021/

A record-setting 10.7 million 20-foot containers passed through the Port of Los Angeles in 2021, up 13% from the previous record set in 2018.

And that pace is set to continue, according to Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles. “I don’t see us falling off a cliff,” Seroka said. “I don’t see the American consumer changing their buying habits.”

For 18 months now, the Port of Los Angeles has received 900,000 container units per month. Pre-pandemic, just one month with numbers like that would have been a record.

“We’re running now about 17-18 ships a day that are working in port. That’s 70-80% higher productivity than we ever had before Covid-19,” Seroka said.

© Copyright Original Source

By the way, we can play Battling News Articles all day long...

Unions Have Made Supply-Chain Problems Worse

Organized-labor headlines typically offer a zap of top-line shock — UPS is paying some drivers $134,000 a year? Philadelphia is paying a police detective $310,000 a year? — but those six-figure sums don’t capture the true cost.

As can be seen with the enormously costly backup at the port complex in San Pedro, Calif. — which handles about 40 percent of U.S. container-ship cargo — the issue is not so much high wages as highly rigid and inflexible labor practices.

The problem in San Pedro isn’t that the longshoremen are earning, on average, $171,000 a year ($194,000 for a clerk and $282,000 for a foreman) plus the usual generous benefits — the problem is that the ships are not being unloaded in a timely fashion.

Instead, the ships have been sitting at sea. Where there might normally be no more than one ship waiting at anchor for a spot to unload, there recently have been as many as 95.

The Biden administration has responded with an initiative that is perfectly Bidenesque: vague and fuzzy about the details, offering the appearance of action but very little of the real thing. The administration says it brokered a deal under which the twin California ports now operate around the clock. The 24/7 operation began “weeks ago,” according to White House flack Jen Psaki.

You will not be entirely surprised to find that this is not true.

Port authorities tell the Long Beach Post that there is no terminal at either facility currently operating 24/7. What has happened is that the port authority has launched a pilot program under which one terminal at Long Beach (there are seven) will operate 24 hours a day Monday through Thursday. The rest of the week, it will revert to its usual restricted hours. No other terminal is offering 24-hour operations at this time, and none has announced plans to do so.

If there ever is an actual transition to 24/7 operations at the ports, it will take months or years to implement. And it will not solve the fundamental problem — instead, it almost certainly will only replace one rigid and inflexible labor arrangement with a different rigid and inflexible labor arrangement.

[Cow Poke]

I avoid anything labeled "Made in China" as much as possible, even if it means paying a few dollars more for a different brand.

Yeah, not that, in the grand scheme of things, it makes all that much difference, but it gives me a sense of satisfaction. And, if enough people do it, it WILL make a difference.

I remember years ago Walmart ran a big "Made in America" campaign. Seems that got undone. (Looks like that was mid 80s)

WAL-MART'S 'BUY AMERICAN'

Sam M. Walton, the down- home Arkansas retail executive, is upset about the flood of imports, and he is aiming to do something about it.

As the chairman of Wal- Mart Stores, a 753-unit discount chain that operates largely in rural communities, Mr. Walton, who Forbes has estimated to be worth more than $2 billion, sees his small- town customers losing their jobs as factories close because of imports.

In February, he wrote to 3,000 American manufacturers and wholesalers telling them that the chain wanted to buy more American goods. ''Our continued success depends on our mutual reaction to a very serious problem with regard to our balance of trade deficit,'' he said in the letter. Wal- Mart reports that so far it has written new orders with four suppliers as a result of the 66-year-old Mr. Walton's appeal.

That was then.

[Cow Poke]

Or their unions.

Yes, today's unions tend to screw things up, often to the great annoyance of the members themselves.

[Mountain Man]

We're doing fine with the necessities. Regarding food, can't always get the exact brand we want but we survive. Some of the more non-essentials we've ordered have been delayed. Have noticed when they arrive, a lot are made in China.

I avoid anything labeled "Made in China" as much as possible, even if it means paying a few dollars more for a different brand.

[Stoic]

I don't believe I ever have.

Or their unions.