Global Supply Chain Crisis 2021: Megathread - A cozy thread for watching the supply chain fall apart just in time for the holidays

[Overly Serious]

I have a friend who owns 10 trucks. 3 are sitting in a lot waiting for those fucking sensors and its been weeks.

Guy who did a job for me bought a brand new tilt-bed truck start of this year. Says he gets at least three people come up to him on the street each month offering to buy it off him for way above market value. He tells them not a chance. Apparently very hard to get hold of right now due to some component shortage (not sure if it's the same as this or not).

He'd marry that truck if he could.

 

[Bonesjones]

I overheard a trucker talk about it getting so bad in some places, they are hiring people with non-CDL licenses to drive box trucks full of freight.

 

[WinchesterWhiskey]

So, this all being the case. Should I be trying to get my CDL? Currently working at a place where nothing happens but the money is okay for what it is. My issue is having a German shepherd at home.

 

[Sped Xing]

I have a friend who owns 10 trucks. 3 are sitting in a lot waiting for those fucking sensors and its been weeks.

Sensors? What sensors?
EDIT: I finally read the OP. I've never had a DEF sensor go out. It mever occurred to me as a problem.

I've been purely intra-state in Texas for years. I've missed out on all the federal lunacy.

So, this all being the case. Should I be trying to get my CDL? Currently working at a place where nothing happens but the money is okay for what it is. My issue is having a German shepherd at home.

Getting a CDL is very easy, albeit a pain in the ass. If that makes sense. I mean, you have to jump through hoops, but none of those hoops are particularly challenging.

Depending on where you live, there may be a market for local drivers with no experience, especially right now. Bearing in mind *those* jobs tend to be utter shit like salt water disposal or soda delivery.

 

[Puff]

Guy who did a job for me bought a brand new tilt-bed truck start of this year. Says he gets at least three people come up to him on the street each month offering to buy it off him for way above market value. He tells them not a chance. Apparently very hard to get hold of right now due to some component shortage (not sure if it's the same as this or not).

He'd marry that truck if he could.

Axles. We're short on axles. Everything is fucked.

 

[WinchesterWhiskey]

Depending on where you live, there may be a market for local drivers with no experience, especially right now. Bearing in mind *those* jobs tend to be utter shit like salt water disposal or soda delivery.

Oh okay. Yeah, I've never dealt with this before. I work corpo security and I've been applying to armed positions and am surprised that shit that used to have actual standards(ex-mil, ex-LEO) is begging me to get hired on.

I'm not really sure what to do, I'm more surprised.

 

[Sped Xing]

Oh okay. Yeah, I've never dealt with this before. I work corpo security and I've been applying to armed positions and am surprised that shit that used to have actual standards(ex-mil, ex-LEO) is begging me to get hired on.

I'm not really sure what to do, I'm more surprised.

FWIW I've seen people driving OTR with multiple big dogs. I don't understand how they deal with that / make any money when they have to stop for walkies constantly, but I guess they must manage somehow.

One of the most frustrating things about OTR work is you're paid by the mile or by a percentage of the load. You aren't paid by the hour. That means traffic jams, uncaring dock workers, and inclement weather are all taking money out of your pocket, by no fault of your own.

I get hourly pay, so when people waste my time it's money in the bank, and my company lets me get extra hours doing other things if I feel like it, so really that's the main reason I don't go back over the road.

For OTR, I think percentage pay is best; you may get screwed by a low freight charge from time to time, but you make money the same way the company makes money, so there's no question of waiting for a raise.

I don't think there's ever been a better time to start trucking, if you want to drive. But it's certainly not for everyone. If anyone meets the following list, in my opinion, it's a great choice.

1) No children. Self explanatory.

2) Either no wife, or your wife will ride with you. I took mine with me whenever she wasn't at college, and it was wonderful. Maybe take your girlfriend with you if you aren't married-- if you fight, dump her. If you fight too much, dump her at the Pilot in Carlin, NV. Or be single and a complete manwhore.

3) Actively enjoy driving on highways and freeways. Most people who "love driving" don't mean they love to set the cruise and listen to books on tape while they toodle down I-20. I do.

4) Manage stress well. Take a look at the 500 lb pajeet retards driving trucks and tell me it's hard. It's not. What a lot of trucking jobs are is *nerve-wracking.* If you're a bullshit-off-a-duck's-back kinda dude, you'll be OK. Bring some dumbbells and a jumprope. Don't drink.

5) Can do math and recognize patterns. Simple stuff, but some dudes can't figure out why they'll make more money hauling a 600 dollar load of shingles to Ohio than a 1000 dollar load of sheet metal to Florida. So much the worse for them.

6) Not a faerie princess. A human bean CAN sleep without running the AC, drive 11 hours without drinking eight Rip-its, and complete daily hygiene in 30 minutes without hanging around the lounge in flip-flops eating Cinnabon. If you think I'm lying, don't waste your time, or you'll be one of the fat imbeciles who can't understand why they only make 600 bucks a week.

Anyway, I'm not topping it the trucking guru. This is all just, like, my opinion, man.

 

[WinchesterWhiskey]

I understand. I don't think I could do the job as I feel like the isolation would exacerbate a lot of my mental health issues. Thanks though, I appreciate you highlighting all of that.

 

[Sped Xing]

Convincing someone not to make a mistake makes me happy.

Hey, by the way, that 14k a week thing? Yeah, sounds too good to be true? Well.

1st, frack sand is the shittiest truck driving job in America, hands down. Enjoy never sleeping, getting lung cancer, waiting in long lines, and driving through actual trackless wilderness in your OWN RIG that you must pay to fuel and maintain entirely on your own dime. All so you can get that pie in the sky of one week making 14 grand in *revenue,* not profit, and then eighteen weeks with your dick in your hand when oil drops again. Your cool pneumatic trailer can be used in other applications, though! You can carry sugar, or flour, or oh wait no fucking way will it ever be food grade again.

But on the bright side, you'll be working closely with oilfield workers. If you like surly sex offenders and meth.

 

[Ser Prize]

I wish Canadian driving licenses were less retarded. This would be a great time to build a nest egg.

 

[Rebel Wilson]

Convincing someone not to make a mistake makes me happy.

Hey, by the way, that 14k a week thing? Yeah, sounds too good to be true? Well.

1st, frack sand is the shittiest truck driving job in America, hands down. Enjoy never sleeping, getting lung cancer, waiting in long lines, and driving through actual trackless wilderness in your OWN RIG that you must pay to fuel and maintain entirely on your own dime. All so you can get that pie in the sky of one week making 14 grand in *revenue,* not profit, and then eighteen weeks with your dick in your hand when oil drops again. Your cool pneumatic trailer can be used in other applications, though! You can carry sugar, or flour, or oh wait no fucking way will it ever be food grade again.

But on the bright side, you'll be working closely with oilfield workers. If you like surly sex offenders and meth.

I thought the worst truck job was hauling explosives to Alaska. I guess my uncle lied to me. Couldn't even stop for a piss unless the local police in whatever isolated craphole he was in approved it.

 

[Sped Xing]

I thought the worst truck job was hauling explosives to Alaska. I guess my uncle lied to me. Couldn't even stop for a piss unless the local police in whatever isolated craphole he was in approved it.

Someone's gotta keep Santa's army supplied.

 

[George Lucas]

Dumb retarded opinion: I was thinking that because of the fiasco with 'shortages' last year (some of which were real and some of which were just retards buying too much shit), companies now have an incentive to not disclose supply chain issues. Obviously what is known is known, like the semiconductor shit. I'm thinking that if some shop doesn't want to go out of stock, but is having supply chain issues, they're just going to raise prices to try to throttle buying (idk I don't a business so I don't actually know if this is something a business would try to do).

That could be a reason why inflation is getting so bad, especially for all the stuff conveniently not in the CPI like food.

Either the prices continue to get ridiculous and people (and governments) start asking questions, or the hand is revealed and everyone realizes how fucked we are.

This random article I found on the internet seems to support my idea somewhat: https://www.adn.com/nation-world/2021/09/15/heres-why-your-food-prices-keep-going-up/

 

[Uncle June]

College BTFO


Learn the trades boys, it's where all the shortages are right now.

 

[Blake Chortles]

Regular Gatorade has been in short supply, in Florida of all places. Usually took 1/3rd of the drink isle, and now its often half empty with only orange or some other color people don't like.

 

[murdered meat bag]

the national coin shortage is partially due to trucking issues. cant get them out the door and into the banks and credit unions.

 

[Sped Xing]

College BTFO


Learn the trades boys, it's where all the shortages are right now.

Then who will leverage your synergy to pivot your core competencies through sustainable, open-source strategies that right-size your flexible algorithm and pilot a top-to-bottom rethinking of your workforce initiatives?

 

[Mooger Meng]

Then who will leverage your synergy to pivot your core competencies through sustainable, open-source strategies that right-size your flexible algorithm and pilot a top-to-bottom rethinking of your workforce initiatives?

"Could you repeat that, nerd? I can't hear you with how many cocks you've got in your mouth."

 

[contradiction of terns]

Sensors? What sensors?
EDIT: I finally read the OP. I've never had a DEF sensor go out. It mever occurred to me as a problem.

I've been purely intra-state in Texas for years. I've missed out on all the federal lunacy.


Getting a CDL is very easy, albeit a pain in the ass. If that makes sense. I mean, you have to jump through hoops, but none of those hoops are particularly challenging.

Depending on where you live, there may be a market for local drivers with no experience, especially right now. Bearing in mind *those* jobs tend to be utter shit like salt water disposal or soda delivery.

Thank you for dropping in and giving us a trucker's perspective. If your rig is older (pre-2011) then it likely doesn't require the sensor and you'll never have to worry about it. The good news is that if this is the case you'll have work until hell freezes over, you get tired of it, or civilization fully collapses.


On a somewhat related note (soda delivery), I have pics I grabbed from a gas station I pass daily. Since I'm a regular and on good terms with the staff I inquired whether they were unable to get deliveries because there were no trucks, and the manager on duty informed me that it was because the vendor had no one to drive for them. Pics below.

The store has looked like this for two weeks, and every time I've asked I've been informed they put their order for new stock in forever ago. This particular gas station has also removed half of their shelving units to make it look like they are better stocked than they are.


From the local Starbies. You can drive for several hours in any direction and see this sign at almost all of the Starbies.

I have more but I'll have to drop it later, including an update on small fleet owner's experience trying to figure out a DEF work-around. No rest for the wicked and all that.

 

[Puff]

Dumb retarded opinion: I was thinking that because of the fiasco with 'shortages' last year (some of which were real and some of which were just retards buying too much shit), companies now have an incentive to not disclose supply chain issues. Obviously what is known is known, like the semiconductor shit.

The automotive chip shortage isn't even Covid related. A factory caught fire. It's just easier to let people blame it on Covid.