Month: November 2021

Grocery stores in the U.S. may receive limited quantities of products or may lack some flavors or items due to labor, raw material, or transportation issues that food manufacturers are facing. The companies named increased demand, labor shortages, “supply chain restrictions” or “logistical challenges”.

Parts of the US are now battling food shortages as worried Americans have emptied supermarket shelves amid the supply chain crisis threatening the nation’s economy and holiday shopping.

The surge in demand comes as two of America’s major container ports in California face a massive pandemic-related backlog. Retailers say they need to maintain their customer experience as best they can to remain competitive.

Some 58% of consumers said supply-chain disruptions, product shortages and shipping delays have made shopping more stressful, and 41% said product shortages and significant shipping and delivery delays would cause them to abandon a brand, according to results from an October survey by New York-based trade association ICSC, which represents retail businesses.

Grocery stores in the U.S. haven’t escaped product shortages, although larger companies with access to a wide network of suppliers, capital and space have had more success working around supply-chain issues without disrupting the shopper experience.

But smaller grocery retailers with less flexibility have struggled to keep shelves full and to plan for what items may show up on any given day.

Growth + Change = Opportunity!

Postal service and logistics firms express concern that vaccine mandates will cause delays in the supply chain and mail. And more lawsuits are filed against the federal rules. In California, state officials are examining exemptions to vaccinations granted by doctors. Retailers are concerned about implementing the requirements during the busy holiday shopping season

The National Retail Federation, the National Federation of Independent Business and the American Trucking Associations, told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in their lawsuit that businesses would lose employees, incur “unrecoverable compliance costs” and face deteriorating conditions in “already fragile supply chains and labor markets.”

National industry groups representing retail, truckers and independent businesses sued the Biden administration Wednesday over its vaccine and testing requirements for private companies, claiming they would cause “irreparable harm.”

Companies including United Parcel Service Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and others that manage warehouse staffers, truck drivers and other employees across logistics networks in general aren’t requiring employees outside of some office workers to get vaccinated against Covid-19. Many firms say they are encouraging staffers to get vaccinated while mandating protection measures in workplaces.

Growth + Change = Opportunity!

While a global supply-chain crisis is crimping sales for companies from Apple Inc. to Caterpillar Inc., transportation firms are riding an unprecedented profit boom. 

Trucking companies, in particular, have seen freight volume and prices jump as imported goods flood into the U.S., easily making up for higher wages to recruit drivers. The spike in fuel is passed along to their customers through automatic surcharges. 

The average spot-market price to hire a big-rig reached $2.86, including fuel surcharges, during October, 19% above the same level last year

The profit surge isn’t limited to truckers. Railroads, freight brokers and maritime shipping companies are all feasting on the more than 20% surge of imported goods and growing desperation of shippers to get their items on time.

U.S. transport companies are logging record profits in a tight domestic transportation market while ocean shipping lines are reaping similar gains on soaring rates to move containers from Asia to the U.S. and Europe.

Customers of the transport operators are feeling the pinch in freight markets, as rising transportation costs and other supply-chain woes weigh on earnings for businesses from online retail to food companies and auto parts distributors.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc., the largest freight broker in North America, said its third-quarter net income rose 81% from a year ago, to $247 million, boosted in part by strong gains in its international freight-forwarding business.

Growth + Change = Opportunity!