Pandemic supply chain in your area

[ampdude]

So you understand that prices are going up, but you don't seem to grasp basic economics and how supply and demand works.

Your username and the first sentence of your post already tells me you're not worth having a conversation with.

 

[ampdude]

Although the news reported that the baby formula shortage is still a crisis, yesterday, I took this picture at a different super market than the one I was in last week.

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Funny, everything doesn't revolve around Walmart and their supply chain right? And whatever small world certain people live in. It's out there. Just drive somewhere else. As a previous joker said and they always do say... "supply and demand". Little brains for little worlds.

 

[bykfixer]

now now children, lets all go back to our safe spaces before somebody gets hurt……

 

[Poppy]

I don't know what the status is now, but back in the day, there was a demand for owner operators, because in part they were willing to work for less than union wages. Perhaps this California law will force the owner operators to unionize and get union wages. That may not be great for us consumers, but allow the owner operators to make a liveable wage, without having to work an insane number of hours.

 

[KITROBASKIN]

That was rude to the ampdude.
I took economics 101 and it was in large part divorced from the nuances of reality with it's certitude and simplistic wares.

Herd mentality is very real, and more than a few vendors use it to make extra profit whenever they can. There are a couple of members here who are being sucked in by supply fears made by those who profit from such gullibility. And that of course makes the situation worse if the fear mongers are heeded.

We have been putting up with the Debbie Downer muff fluff, let ampdude have his say without the excoriating embarrassment for all to see.

 

[bykfixer]

Critique the post, not the post-er please.

 

[knucklegary]

Yep, you should search Debbie Downer Muff Fluff. It's definitely not a children's book (-;

 

[Hooked on Fenix]

I understand it's frustrating that prices of everything keep going up. It makes it hard to save, stock up, or do anything fun with your money to get your mind off the current situation. Makes it hard to keep your sense of humor and not go crazy at each bump in the road that comes your way in life. What I had a problem with was Ampdude's attitude that producers were all "given the green light to rip us off". Do you know how many hard working people it takes to get food for you to the store, electricity to your home, and gas to the gas station for your car? You think things are bad now? Look at South Africa with their 8 hour per day rolling blackouts or Sri Lanka which just overturned their government over food riots. We take so much for granted. We should be thanking the people for their service bringing us what we need, not blaming them for the problems they had no part in creating. This talk about blaming the producers for not lowering their prices leads to talks about price controls. That leads to shortages as companies cut their loses and quit. Then you end up with the Soviet era bread lines or the gas lines during the '70s with only certain days you are allowed to gas up. Don't let your frustration with high prices lead you down the path to something much worse.

 

[turbodog]

There are most certainly legit supply chain issues in place currently, one of which is labor. We are short ~2M immigrants based on historical data & current needs. Non-immigrants don't work as cheaply (or at all for some jobs)... any more wonder why prices are up? Not that hard.

 

[Hooked on Fenix]

Our biggest problem with the supply chain is our government picking winners and losers. Instead of focusing on bringing in the best and brightest the world has to offer through a legal immigration system, they chose instead to let everyone else cut in line with illegal immigration so we end up with the people no country wants. Instead of letting the fair market decide which energy sources would be used to power our grid through competition, they decided to go with solar and wind and bankrupt the rest. Now several states no longer have reliable power grids. In California, they decided to make it illegal to be an independent owner operator of a semi truck because the state could get more tax revenue if all the truck drivers were union employees. Now, we have 70,000 less trucks delivering our goods as of this week. The government decided to mandate 100 million workers be vaccinated against Covid, or lose their jobs. Wonder why there's a worker shortage?

 

[Hooked on Fenix]

Looks like there is a truck worker strike planned at the California ports starting tomorrow at 7-8 a.m. (Los Angeles port at least, maybe Oakland as well- so far in Oakland 15 companies ready to strike for 3 days) to protest A.B.5. 70% of the port truck workers were independent owner operators that have been suddenly made illegal to work by this law. I guess the remaining 30% would rather support their fellow workers than permanently get stuck with 3+ times more work. I'd expect to see supply chain disruptions if all the truck drivers go on strike. Since A.B.5 is now in effect, expect to see a lot less product in the stores from here on out. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but at least if everyone is on board to get rid of that law, maybe these problems won't last for too much longer. I'm not happy to hear about this strike. We have enough supply chain problems. Just thought I'd give everyone a head's up about what's about to happen.

Thought I'd follow up on this. The strike is taking place now. They are planning for it to last 3 days. Here is some raw footage of the strike in L.A.:

 

[bykfixer]

Crony capitalism is a real problem anymore. The gubment picking winners (and losers) through crazy regulations does a lot of good for some and bad for others. But the supply chain disruptions are minimal in some areas and really bad in other areas.
The US overall has a really strong supply chain yet rusty/weak links are causing difficulty at times.
And yeah some companies are taking advantage of the situation, no doubt, yet gubment control would make things worse in the long run. Gubment is slow and wasteful be it local, state or federal so putting them in charge of the supply chain would probably not work well versus a private sector that tends to bob and weave in order to "roll with the changes".

One thing is certain, there's no shortage of hot air at the capital buildings all across America these days.

 

[Hooked on Fenix]

One thing is certain, there's no shortage of hot air at the capital buildings all across America these days.

…or a shortage of fertilizer. You can smell the b.s. from a mile away.

 

[bykfixer]

Politicians are like diapers. They should be changed often……for the same reason.

My local grocery store was strangely out of elbow noodles all through the pandemic. They're plentiful now.

 

[Hooked on Fenix]

Looks like the supply chain issues are about to get even worse come January 1, 2023. California passed an emissions law a long time ago that doesn't kick in until the start of next year that bans all semi trucks made before 2010 from operating in the state of California. We just made 70,000 truck operators illegal in this state via A.B.5. This would be an estimated 80,000 trucks. It also prevents trucks in other states made before 2010 from operating in the state. Because of supply chain issues and chip shortages, new trucks can't even be ordered now to try to comply with the law when it takes effect next year. Also, older model trucks are less likely to require DEF fluid for operation. Once this law takes effect, all diesel trucks will require it during a time we are having shortages of that fluid. Here's a news report about the upcoming law:

 

[Poppy]

Back in 1973 my dad took the family on a three week road trip from NJ to CA and back. My sister and I did the bulk of the driving, and we did a fair amount of it at night so we had more day time hours hitting the tourist spots, instead of just driving during the day. I was driving at day break, as we approached Los Angeles, California. I could see the smog hanging over the city, and as we got closer, my eyes started to tear. Granted, I was tired, but the smog irritated my eyes.

Pollution is a real thing. It needs to be addressed.

I imagine that if some laws are passed that create too much of a hardship, the populace will vote in lawmakers who will repeal those same laws.

In the mean-time, gas prices here continue to drop. $4.47 a gallon.

 

[scout24]

Perspective: they've "dropped" to double what they were two years ago. And no doubt smog and pollition are real, but you can't flip the switch to a power generation or transportation system that provides say 10% of your needs and think everyone will adapt and things will be fine. Electricity needs to flow and goods and peoe need to move. That's just reality.

On topic, the amount of product spread out on shelves here to make them appear full continues to rise. Lack of variety and gast rising prices for sure but not true shortages.

 

[xxo]

Pollution is a real thing. It needs to be addressed.

It has been addresed. Pollution levels in LA are half what they were when you were there in the '70's.

 

[idleprocess]

In the mean-time, gas prices here continue to drop. $4.47 a gallon.

I paid about that much for 93 yesterday in the DFW area.

 

[Hooked on Fenix]

The reason gas prices are down is that China has been going through more Covid lockdowns. With them using less fuel being locked in their homes, the fuel supply has had a bit of time to catch up. As soon as their lockdowns are over, gas prices will rise again. Don't assume the problem has been addressed or solved. That's also why products are getting more scarce on the shelves and prices are going up.

As for the pollution problems in California, it used to be much worse when we used coal fired power plants. Now we use natural gas, wind, and solar. The ports in L.A. used to have a lot of diesel trucks sitting waiting for loads. Now they have to be natural gas or electric to go to the port. This law had an unintended consequence of slowing down pickups and drop offs of loads, however. The companies that didn't want to change out their entire fleet to natural gas decided to buy one natural gas truck to stay by the port and load it with the load from the diesel trucks, then just drive the natural gas truck to the port and back about a mile, skirting the law and making it do nothing to reduce pollution.