Supply Chain Bottlenecks

[zekeb]

Haven't read the article (yet) but Hubs' best bud from HS is a trucker and says they can't find drivers for whenever the boats are finally unloaded sooooo....yeah.

I wonder what the effect would be if they'd allow truckers to drive one additional hour per day until the logistics problem is over.

[RTH10260]

Question is, is the waiting in the queues counted as working (driving) time, or as resting. I understand that the bottle neck is the queuing up for the containers at the port, not so much the transfer on the roads.

[zekeb]

Question is, is the waiting in the queues counted as working (driving) time, or as resting. I understand that the bottle neck is the queuing up for the containers at the port, not so much the transfer on the roads.

I believe that you are resting if you are not in the truck. There is also a requirement that a trucker must have a certain amount of time off in one block. It may be a solid eight hour time frame. It may be more.

[RTH10260]

the backlog will magickally disappear

out of sight - out of mind

far off the coast in international waters

[RTH10260]

newly posted on youtube but content about three weeks old, still interesting to view

[Lani]

I was surprised by the empty shelves in the grocery store today. That's happened on & off since covid, but it's worse now. Oh, and the high prices for what remained I'm going to have to shop local bakeries, farmer's markets, and local egg, chicken & beef shops. Might as well get out my bread machine, too.

[RTH10260]

Coffee bean shortage starts to bite
As arabica prices soar, quality could suffer as more roasters consider using cheaper robusta

PUBLISHED : 20 NOV 2021 AT 17:10
WRITER: BLOOMBERG NEWS

Coffee snobs have a lot to worry about right now. A global shortage of beans is already threatening to push up prices at cafes and supermarkets. Now, your morning cappuccino or latte might start leaving a bitter taste for other reasons too.

The world is facing a desperate shortfall of arabica coffee, the variety that gives the smoothest flavour and makes up about 60% of world production. Supplies were decimated after extreme weather destroyed crops, and with a La Nina pattern forecast through early 2022 expected to further hurt yields, it could take years for the market to recover.



https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/22 ... ts-to-bite

[keith]

Great article. But I am in strong disagreement with the very last sentence.

Adele’s ’30’ Sends Vinyl Pressing Plants Into Overdrive, While LP Shortages Leave Many Artists Chasing Pavements

...
Vinyl sales have been on the rise since 2006 and last year overtook CD sales for the first time since 1986 — but what’s happened in recent months is a boom on top of a boom. Chains like Walmart and Target, which have all but quit the CD business, now order their own exclusive color-variant pressings on top of the exclusives that indie stores or artist websites tout. That demand has formed a perfect storm with the same pandemic conditions that have left many industries’ raw materials marooned on ships.
...
Reasons for the supply issues can be almost comically mundane. Says Colliton, “There are things you don’t ever think about happening. Like, there is a shortage of pellets because Dallas was cold, and because lumber is expensive, more people are putting vinyl flooring in their houses. And it’s the same materials, and it’s a hell of a lot easier to sell vinyl pellets to the flooring companies. Those are all things nobody thinks about when they can’t get their record made or can’t pick up the record they preordered because the stores got allocated. Some of the reasons this is happening are just kind of mind-blowing.”
...
He adds, though, that “the reality is that these frustrations are frustrations because people are embracing the format. So I’d much rather be in a situation of having to change 43 records because we couldn’t get the right color compound than have to scramble to keep the presses running. We’ve done about 1400 different orders over the course of the year, and we’re a mid-sized (plant) here in the U.S.”

Artists, labels and stores that have to deal with demand outstripping supply concede that that’s a good problem to have. Colliton thinks even non-record stores claiming bigger shares of the market is a positive. “What big boxes do is see what’s cool and sell it to people,” she says. “It really sucks that what’s cool is what we specialize in at record stores, and that’s (the share of limited supply) that they’re taking. But I guess if you look at it as the more people that know about vinyl, the more regular vinyl becomes, and the more vinyl will stick around, then I guess it’s a good thing that you can buy vinyl at Cracker Barrel.” And maybe a good thing that Adele and Swift are going to be the first LPs a lot of people ever buy.

[Volkonski]

Mrs.V reports no canned cranberry sauce, jellied or whole berry, at local markets.

Luckily she found fresh cranberries so we can make our own.

[Atticus Finch]

Our family's favorite root beer is Barq's. It is a hit or miss in our grocery shopping. Either the store has plenty or none on its shelves

[scirreeve]

Mrs.V reports no canned cranberry sauce, jellied or whole berry, at local markets.

Luckily she found fresh cranberries so we can make our own.

I bought cranberries yesterday - both fresh and canned. I don't like cranberries but I buy whatever Mrs. Reeve instructs me to buy. Cranberries always remind me of the sovcit nutter Jimi O'Hagan who is a cranberry farmer (I usually call him Jimi O'Bog online).

[sugar magnolia]

Our family's favorite root beer is Barq's. It is a hit or miss in our grocery shopping. Either the store has plenty or none on its shelves

Fortunately, we live in the land of Barq's so it's always available. There would be riots in the street otherwise.

And totally off-topic, but there is a small Catholic church on the MS coast that my ancestors donated the land for, and at that small church is a small cemetery, and in that small cemetery is buried a retired Highway Patrolman, and encased in acrylic at the top of his headstone is a bottle of Barq's root beer. Highway Patrol officers are almost never assigned to the same district they originally lived in, so this poor guy was sent off to the the wilds of north Mississippi when Barq's was still limited only to the coast and as far as it could be delivered cold in one day by truck. It rarely made it to his new town. He spent his entire 30 year career swearing he would never be without Barq's another day after he retired. He moved back to the coast and promptly died. His wife made sure he would never be without his Barq's.

[Atticus Finch]

Great story.

[Uninformed]

[zekeb]

Mrs.V reports no canned cranberry sauce, jellied or whole berry, at local markets.

Luckily she found fresh cranberries so we can make our own.

I have mine. In the party of 10 I'll be hosting, only two of us love carnberry sauce. The others must have been raised as barbarians.

[northland10]

I completely forgot to buy it last Friday when I went shopping and refuse to go back to the store this week. While I love the jellied stuff (and also like the homemade relish my dad makes), I am only cooking for myself, so I will survive. I'd be too full for it anyway.

[Slim Cognito]

I went off on a rant on another thread, the second half of which should be here.

We watched a youtube video a week or so back about the freighter log jam and DeSantis' offer to bring those ships to Florida to off load. I'll tell you what the guy said in the video and people can comment as to how, if at all, factual or educated guessy he is.

First, he pointed out that a lot of the ships anchored off Cali are too big to go thru the Panama Canal. But for those that could fit, the ships currently in a 7-10 day holding period anchored off shore, could head south for an 8 day trip to Tampa. He rattled off what type of diesel fuel used for travel vs what was used when anchored and the difference per day. He also mentioned the fees for traveling thru the canal, both fully loaded and partially loaded on the return trip. He said the round trip to FL would take 16-18 days depending on how long it took to unload/reload. All I remember, number-wise, is that the ships who headed to Florida would spend $1 million more in costs vs the ships that stayed put. Also too, the ships that stayed put would, most likely, be on their way back west by day 10, whereas the ships heading to FL would probably still be at port in Tampa, or whatever FL ports DeSantis pushed, but Tampa would be the quickest.

[MN-Skeptic]

Mrs.V reports no canned cranberry sauce, jellied or whole berry, at local markets.

Luckily she found fresh cranberries so we can make our own.

I have mine. In the party of 10 I'll be hosting, only two of us love carnberry sauce. The others must have been raised as barbarians.

We grew up, in Wisconsin, with both canned and fresh cranberry relish for Thanksgiving. Wisconsin is, by far, the largest cranberry producer in the United States.

[W. Kevin Vicklund]

Mrs.V reports no canned cranberry sauce, jellied or whole berry, at local markets.

Luckily she found fresh cranberries so we can make our own.

I bought cranberries yesterday - both fresh and canned. I don't like cranberries but I buy whatever Mrs. Reeve instructs me to buy. Cranberries always remind me of the sovcit nutter Jimi O'Hagan who is a cranberry farmer (I usually call him Jimi O'Bog online).

My aunt and her family used to live in Cranberry. Their last name is Boggs.

They embraced the obvious connection.

[W. Kevin Vicklund]

I went off on a rant on another thread, the second half of which should be here.

We watched a youtube video a week or so back about the freighter log jam and DeSantis' offer to bring those ships to Florida to off load. I'll tell you what the guy said in the video and people can comment as to how, if at all, factual or educated guessy he is.

First, he pointed out that a lot of the ships anchored off Cali are too big to go thru the Panama Canal. But for those that could fit, the ships currently in a 7-10 day holding period anchored off shore, could head south for an 8 day trip to Tampa. He rattled off what type of diesel fuel used for travel vs what was used when anchored and the difference per day. He also mentioned the fees for traveling thru the canal, both fully loaded and partially loaded on the return trip. He said the round trip to FL would take 16-18 days depending on how long it took to unload/reload. All I remember, number-wise, is that the ships who headed to Florida would spend $1 million more in costs vs the ships that stayed put. Also too, the ships that stayed put would, most likely, be on their way back west by day 10, whereas the ships heading to FL would probably still be at port in Tampa, or whatever FL ports DeSantis pushed, but Tampa would be the quickest.

Also, too, he calculated the the holding pattern ships would be anchored for 20 days, despite none taking longer than 14 days. So in reality, the savings would almost certainly be much higher.

[zekeb]

I completely forgot to buy it last Friday when I went shopping and refuse to go back to the store this week. While I love the jellied stuff (and also like the homemade relish my dad makes), I am only cooking for myself, so I will survive. I'd be too full for it anyway.

You're within 200 miles of the cranberry capital of the entire world. I'd think there should be a can of it somewhere near you.

[RTH10260]

I went off on a rant on another thread, the second half of which should be here.

We watched a youtube video a week or so back about the freighter log jam and DeSantis' offer to bring those ships to Florida to off load. I'll tell you what the guy said in the video and people can comment as to how, if at all, factual or educated guessy he is.

Also, too, he calculated the the holding pattern ships would be anchored for 20 days, despite none taking longer than 14 days. So in reality, the savings would almost certainly be much higher.

The ships that push the average up are those that did not announce their arrival and reserved a berth when they sailed from their departure port (like two weeks before arrival). They are stuck for 6+ weeks on hold.

[W. Kevin Vicklund]

Ahh, that would make sense; I don't think he mentioned that, or I might have misunderstood what he said.

[Slim Cognito]

If you saw the same video I saw, and it sounds like you did, I also do not believe he mentioned that. And thanks for clarifying some of the other points. I was working from memory and that ain't easy.

[northland10]

I went off on a rant on another thread, the second half of which should be here.

Also, too, he calculated the the holding pattern ships would be anchored for 20 days, despite none taking longer than 14 days. So in reality, the savings would almost certainly be much higher.

Then there is that other minor issue. The transportation company or the railway that is contracted to pick up the containers are out west, not in Florida. For railways, Los Angeles is the Union Pacific and BNSF world. Florida is CSX or contracting with a class II railway to deliver it to Norfolk Southern in northern Florida. Depending on where things were going, this may require another handoff in the middle of the country.