And put the nation's supply chain into paralysis. Empty Christmas Stockings? Don't Blame COVID, Blame California | ZeroHedge
As a couple of astute articles explain, the problem is that California has passed two laws—one for “climate change” and the other as a sop to the unions—that destroyed much of California’s trucking industry.
Add in woes unique to the industry and COVID payments that discourage people from working and...voila!...empty Christmas stockings.
Law number 1: California wants people to buy electric trucks. Which don't exist. So they banned registration of trucks older than 2011 or engines older than 2010.
Law number 2: AB-5 basically outlawed Owner/Operators in the trucking industry. (Which is a provision included - copied directly from California law - in the "Build Back Better" bill in Congress.) Why? Well the politicians will tell you it is for the protection of the workers. In reality it is because they get kickbacks from unions, not from independent truckers.
For another take on the situation in California, see Forget What You're Being Told. Here's the Real Reason for California's Trucker Shortage from Stephen Green, the Vodka Pundit.
California may have made things worse in California but the port problems seems to be national. East Coast ports (e.g. Savanas0 as well as ZGulf Ports are backed up. Thyere are two areas of interest.
ReplyDeleteFirst is that the entire delivery system has adjusted to a more or less constant "load" due to "just in time" ordering and deliveries. The unwinding of the Cina Coff Panic has created a surge that is far more than the system can handle.
The problems seem wide-spread, especially down stream. If a distibution center is short handed, a slow unload/transfer ties up the container, the truck and the driver. Many intermodal yards didn't "waste" money on storage space. When the distant yards are full, the railroads can't deliver and the flow backs up. If a company ordered months ago, but has folded, the container is an orphan that takes up space.
Labor and storage seem to be critical elements to the problem. If the ports speed up the unloading, it will run into storage and delivery problems. California regulations may have made thing there worse but the problem is "everywhere". Part may also be due to the "over generous" unemployment and welfare payments. There was an interesting rant and comments recently at raconteurreport.blogspot.com
Unlike the fantasies of some, especially those of the Progressive persuasion, you can't just turn things on and off like a lightbulb. Lots of things changed in the last year or two. Businesses and employees were not just standing around waiting for the end of the "Panic". It will take time to rebuild employee staffing and until then, there will be chaos. It will be worse if the useless vaccination mandate leads to the loss of core employees and their skills.
center
Is there anything California has not ruined, wrecked or destroyed?
ReplyDelete