Biden administration struggles to fix ailing supply chain

[GURPS]

Forget What You're Being Told. Here's the Real Reason for California's Trucker Shortage.



The immediate problem, the one in Los Angeles, has been caused by the state’s vindictively regulatory state government.

We’ll get to the trucker shortage in just a moment, but California also faces a shortage of trucks for them to drive.

California Is Single-Handedly Making The Supply Chain Crisis Even Worse​

“We in the industry know that if you think there was a supply chain problem over the last year, wait until you take this many trucks out of the marketplace that are not replaceable,” Joe Rajkovacz, director of governmental affairs and communications at the Western States Trucking Association, told the DCNF. “You can be talking about something we as a country have never seen before.”

The rule will take roughly 80,000 commercial trucks, or roughly 17% of the trucking fleet, off the road, adding significant pressure to the supply chain crisis, Rajkovacz said.

The provision would hit smaller trucking operations the hardest, Rajkovacz added. Like the auto industry, the trucking industry has experienced extensive supply shortages, making it expensive and difficult to buy used trucks and find additional parts.

“The way the industry works is that large operators turn over their fleets in a three-year or four-year cycle,” Rajkovacz said. “The used trucks end up in the marketplace and are absorbed by the small business community, but that is all upset right now.”

 

[GURPS]

Biden Cannot Fix China


There are a WHOLE LOT of ships anchored offshore, waiting to dock in China, due to that country’s lunatic Zero-Covid policy. The supply chain problems are probably going to get a whole lot worse before they get better.




My thought is that this will ultimately be another self-inflicted injury, spurring a new renaissance in U.S. manufacturing industries. It will take time to spin up, but I’ll bet you a lot of U.S.-based entrepreneurial types are already putting domestic manufacturing plans together. Local regulations encouraging manufacturing and transportation would be very helpful right about now. For example, red counties should be passing ordinances expediting permits for new manufacturing operations.

If you want to do something to help locally, lobby your county commission to pass new rules encouraging manufacturing and transportation industries.

☕️ Coffee & Covid ☙ Wednesday, May 4, 2022 ☙ ROBUST AND TRANSPARENT 🦠

You'll be healthier with the CDC tracking you; a mini-roundup of Roe Draft news; Murthy rues a lack of robust discussion about pandemic policy; supply chain woes; a wild new study; and more...

www.coffeeandcovid.com

 

[Kyle]

Looks like somebody spilled a 5lb bag of skittles on the tablet.

 

[somdwatch]

Biden Cannot Fix China


There are a WHOLE LOT of ships anchored offshore, waiting to dock in China, due to that country’s lunatic Zero-Covid policy. The supply chain problems are probably going to get a whole lot worse before they get better.




My thought is that this will ultimately be another self-inflicted injury, spurring a new renaissance in U.S. manufacturing industries. It will take time to spin up, but I’ll bet you a lot of U.S.-based entrepreneurial types are already putting domestic manufacturing plans together. Local regulations encouraging manufacturing and transportation would be very helpful right about now. For example, red counties should be passing ordinances expediting permits for new manufacturing operations.

If you want to do something to help locally, lobby your county commission to pass new rules encouraging manufacturing and transportation industries.

☕️ Coffee & Covid ☙ Wednesday, May 4, 2022 ☙ ROBUST AND TRANSPARENT 🦠

You'll be healthier with the CDC tracking you; a mini-roundup of Roe Draft news; Murthy rues a lack of robust discussion about pandemic policy; supply chain woes; a wild new study; and more...

www.coffeeandcovid.com

Like the business in Clements? Grow some weed and ship it to Mexico and other points south?

 

[somdwatch]

And shouldn't the subject of this post just be Biden Struggles?

 

[Kyle]

With Baby Formula Shortage, Pete Buttigieg Forced To Chestfeed

With Baby Formula Shortage, Pete Buttigieg Forced To Chestfeed

WASHINGTON, D.C.—With infant formula shortages reaching crisis levels across the nation, Pete Buttigieg is struggling to find food for his twin babies and has been forced to resort to chestfeeding.

babylonbee.com

 

[Hijinx]

I am sure the high cost of Diesel fuel and the outlook for it to become scarce will solve the supply problem.

 

[GURPS]

"We are here because a company was not able to guarantee that its plant was safe. And that plant has to shut down," he said. Brennan questioned him further, saying that it was "the federal government's job as regulators" to help ensure that this does not happen.

The transportation secretary said that America was a "capitalist country" and that "the government does not make baby formula, nor should it. Companies make formula."

The CBS host asked how the supply chain crisis was affecting the shortage of baby formula and how the administration is making sure that the "essential ingredients" are "actually available."

"A shortage of ingredients is not what led to the shutdown of the facility," he responded. Brennan said that inflation was one of the factors in the ongoing baby formula shortage. She noted the administration was "trying" to bring baby formula in from Europe.

"It's basically a series of monopolies that have added up into enormous market concentration," Buttigieg said.

CBS's Margaret Brennan presses Buttigieg on baby formula shortage: 'Why has it taken so long?'

CBS News' Margaret Brennan pressed Pete Buttigieg about why it has taken the Biden administration “so long” to respond to the baby formula shortage during Sunday's “Face the Nation.”

www.foxnews.com

 

[GURPS]

​

Can't Find Your Favorite Chocolate for Halloween? Supposedly, That's Putin's Fault Too​

Of course, CNN says this is all the consumers’ fault. According to their write-up, you fatties started gorging on sweets during the pandemic, gobbling up supply. The network also seems to believe that enthusiasm for Halloween last year, after over a year of lockdowns in many areas of the country, generally signals some new and increased interest in Halloween. Because it is well known that kids have not enjoyed holding out a bag and receiving free candy until now:

Demand for sweets surged during the pandemic and has remained high. Meanwhile interest in Halloween has only gotten stronger. That’s bittersweet news for Hershey, which has seen its sales spike — the company reported double-digit sales growth in the quarter compared to last year -— but it has also had to make some production sacrifices.
The chocolate maker uses the same manufacturing lines for its regular and seasonal products. That means it can’t amp up production of both regular sweets and Halloween or holiday items. Instead, it has to do one or the other.

Buck said the company had a strategy of prioritizing everyday products on the shelf. This decision may mean you can be the hero in your neighborhood and hand out the full-size Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. There is one in every community, and that could be you this year.

Buck also said Hershey’s issues are primarily due to the war in Ukraine. If chocolate bars were made of wheat, I could buy that. Russia and Ukraine combined produce over one-quarter of global wheat exports. I could concede a Kit Kat and Twix shortage because of their crunchy cookie components. But not full-scale chocolate production.

Even a blog trying to explain the impact of the war in Ukraine on chocolate could only come up with the increasing cost of cocoa beans and the price of oil and gas. The former predates the current conflict, and the latter affects every industry.

In reality, there are two major chocolate producers. One is Cargill, an American company. The even larger one is Barry Callebaut in Switzerland. Together these companies process more than 60% of the world’s cocoa. Big companies like Hershey most often buy from these two suppliers. They are large and dependable, usually.

 

[GURPS]

"The warehouses are full": Cargo begins clogging Port of Los Angeles amid railroad worker shortage​

Just as retailers are starting to gear up for the holiday season, there are warnings of a possible nationwide shipping logjam. A shortage of rail workers, not enough rail cars and importers failing to pick up their goods are causing cargo to pile up once again at the Port of Los Angeles — a key link in the U.S. supply chain.

Port director Gene Seroka said containers are already piling up and clogging the docks.

"There are about 35,000 containers that are designated for rail on our docks right now," he said. "A normal day looks more like 9,000 units."

 

[stgislander]

"The warehouses are full": Cargo begins clogging Port of Los Angeles amid railroad worker shortage​

Just as retailers are starting to gear up for the holiday season, there are warnings of a possible nationwide shipping logjam. A shortage of rail workers, not enough rail cars and importers failing to pick up their goods are causing cargo to pile up once again at the Port of Los Angeles — a key link in the U.S. supply chain.

Port director Gene Seroka said containers are already piling up and clogging the docks.

"There are about 35,000 containers that are designated for rail on our docks right now," he said. "A normal day looks more like 9,000 units."

If you follow the railroading Reddit subgroups, you saw this coming last year.

 

[Gilligan]

If you follow the railroading Reddit subgroups, you saw this coming last year.

I didn't see this coming.

 

[GURPS]

If you follow the railroading Reddit subgroups, you saw this coming last year.

Mayor Pete is too busy moving and taking time off