There are Going to be Even More Empty Grocery Shelves in Idaho

I’m seeing general agreement on the business shows and on the opinion pages, the supply chain shortage is going to be with us for a long time.  The causes are many.  If you like to politicize issues or blame someone else, you can find one cause of several and then amplify.

I watched the President on TV this week and he said he elicited promises from FedEx and United Parcel Service to pick up the pace and get more delivery trucks on the road.  The thing is, those services operate out of hubs.  What’s needed is a fleet of larger trucks to load goods at the docks in Long Beach and Los Angeles, which appear to be the ports suffering the worst in the midst of this crisis.  That’s because they face the Pacific Ocean, where most container ship traffic occurs.

A Jerome County Commissioner posted some details on social media.  Large tractor-trailer rigs are limited in California.  The state bars rigs more than a decade old under the guise of safety regulations.  Owner/operated rigs are also barred.  The latter is a sop for labor unions.

The President also mentioned a need for more longshoremen.  Yet the job has mostly vanished in recent decades as machines have picked up the work of loading and unloading.

This crisis may be one we simply need to wait out.  Click here to listen to the owner of a New York grocery chain.  He predicts the pain isn’t going away anytime soon.

I’m reminded of a study I read many years ago.  When traffic slows on an Interstate for an accident or road hazard, it takes hours for the flow to recover.  Hours after the hazard is cleared.

On a positive note, if electronics are in short supply for Christmas, you can instead celebrate the birth of Jesus.