There needs to be some research as to why the availability of truck drivers is scare. This has sort of been coming to fruition for some time now. Truck drivers have been looking at these driverless trucks coming on and making their way to other employment or retirement. So, the lack of available truck drivers should not be surprising.
There is a chance the pandemic provided a way to become educated for a different trade and now there are simply not enough truck drivers to go around. This grocer is sending his trucks to pick up produce for the store.
So, I am left to wonder what is going on in the transportation sector. Are truckers leaving because they are finding better employment elsewhere or are there simply less of them by attrition and death or disability from the virus. At some point in time, the USA has to realize that 700,000 dead Americans is a lot of Americans. Some of those folks were still members of the workforce. They are not all the elderly.
Truck drivers made up 35 percent of the jobs in transportation in the USA and they continued to work as essential workers during the pandemic. I am quite sure some became ill. There is also the idea that some left because of their exposure that was unwelcome. I would imagine some older drivers simply retired and said no thank you I want to live to retire.
The profession is about 90 percent men. Men became ill and died at higher percentages than women to the virus. There are more veterans that are truckers than other professions. About 10 percent of the truck drivers are military veterans. About 15 percent don't have health insurance. They are predominantly Caucasian in all age groups with older drivers showing less minority employed. Most have high school diplomas with some college.
Truck drivers are about 2 percent of the overall labor workforce in the USA. That would mean about 14,000 truck drivers are among the dead from the virus. That is based on 2 percent when there was no virus. My guess is that it is more, probably quite a bit more than 14,000 dead truck drivers.
This is a permanent change in the labor workforce and there needs to be some introspection about the way forward. The BOTTLENECK of deliveries to stores is causing higher consumer prices. If this that extensive, there needs to be National Gaurd troops brought in to fill in the gap, ESPECIALLY, where there is a large number of impoverished on food stamps.
The so-called inflation is not due to LACK OF GOODS in the case of food, but, becuase of the lack of delivery personnel. I think the President needs to look into this and decide the best way forward.
September 29, 2021
By Alicia Wallace
Bacon is more expensive for Americans than it has been in the past 40 years. (click here for video - thank you)
And yes, that is accounting for inflation.
That hankering for pork chops is costing you about 7% more than 12 months ago. The average price for that slab of bacon to accompany the Sunday morning spread has jumped nearly 28% during the past 12 months, inflation-adjusted Consumer Price Index data show.
The supply chain issues and inflationary pressures that have become all too common in these pandemic times certainly have played their roles in the pork price hikes, alongside a slew of industry-specific influence. President Joe Biden's administration, for its part, believes prices are high because a couple of large companies control the majority of market share, and has outlined plans to level the playing field.
By some analysts' expectations, the higher prices aren't expected to ease anytime soon....
The ports are being clogged up by ships that can't be emptied. I am sure there are Longshore persons, but, there are no truck drivers. Wow. Industry did this to themselves. They want these driverless trucks and where did all the drivers go? To other jobs. Truck driving is not an easy profession. It is a lot of hard work. If a driver can find an easier job, they will take it.
The supply chain is not the issue, it is the MOVEMENT of the supply chain that is the problem. The lack of drivers is huge. There are too many bottlenecks.
The other part of this that no one is looking at is THE WEATHER. Flooding and other issues, especially high wind, is a problem and the climate is reeking havoc with big semis on the road. It would be best to study this entire dynamic. The weather and driver availability are two huge issues. Insurance claims for big rigs due to inclement weather should be an easy place to find any trends. Drivers can sustain injuries that takes them out of work and sometimes permanently, too.
October 2, 2021
By David J. Lynch
The commercial pipeline (click here) that each year brings $1 trillion worth of toys, clothing, electronics and furniture from Asia to the United States is clogged and no one knows how to unclog it.
This month, the median cost of shipping a standard rectangular metal container from China to the West Coast of the United States hit a record $20,586, almost twice what it cost in July, which was twice what it cost in January, according to the Freightos index. Essential freight-handling equipment too often is not where it's needed, and when it is, there aren't enough truckers or warehouse workers to operate it.
As Americans fume, supply headaches that were viewed as temporary when the coronavirus pandemic began now are expected to last through 2022.
Dozens of cargo vessels stuck at anchor off the California coast illustrate the delivery disruptions that have become the signature feature of the recovery, fueling inflation, sapping growth and calling into question the global economic model that has prevailed for three decades...
The White House and secretaries for Labor, Commerce and Transportation need to get on top of this. i don't think merchants have a right to charge more for store items unless it is to distribute operating expenses over a smaller inventory (you got to keep the lights on), but, to charge for the sake of availability when the product is ample and the delivery being the issue is hardly fair to the consumer.
I know everyone wants a free market that sets prices and demand, etc. This is not the time with the country still fighting a pandemic.
