Covid effects on supply chain

Timeflys

Timeflys

Well-Known Member
Dec 7, 2013
736
Thousand Islands, Ontario, Canada
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"Frequent Flyer"
2002 Sundancer 360
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Merc Horizon 8.1s
Thought I’d start a thread with anecdotes of difficulties buying materials/products in the current environment. We’ve all heard about wood/building supply shortages and costs...here is one I wasn’t expecting. We are in St Pete Beach and decided to buy another umbrella for the patio....we deal with a outdoor furniture store that specializes in that market. I was initially worried about matching the Sunbrella fabric, no problem for the umbrella or the mast, but the base is back ordered 10-12 weeks!!
Who knew??
 
COVID is being blamed for piss poor customer service everywhere. I am tired of it. I work as an outsourced accountant and we don't get to use COVID as an excuse for poor service. Our services are in more demand than ever.

On another note, I got a bid to replace a 286 square foot deck for $64,000. It cost me $5,000 to have it built. When I asked why the bid was so high, I was told "COVID". F'n BS.
 
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Ordered a fridge for the bridge in December it’s supposed to be on a ship April 20Th
We also built a house in Fla and All the appliances where back ordered setting us back a little over 5 weeks

also heard a 10’ 2”x4” is $10 ea.
 
Lawnmower in for service 8 weeks ago- can't get belts.
Shopping for an Audi- both local dealers without inventory on A8.
Shopping for a new suit- told to come back in the fall "when the supply chain catches up".
Shopping for house on west coast of Florida-no inventory. Prices to build? OMG!
Boats? well we all know those stories.
 
I think you'd have to separate the "impacts of covid" from the impacts of economic stimulus, lack of available labor and pent-up demand. Not all are/were caused by "covid" but rather consequences of how we responded.
 
Same here in Europe.
Tachometers VDO, normally in stock else 5 days from warehouse Switzerland, now 4 weeks.
Raymarine axiom 12+ RV, here in the shops in Netherlands they say that Raymarina can’t give exact delivery dates due processor availability problems. Ordered the axiom in the UK where they said 30 April.
All i can do is pray for the 30th
 
SOME of it is true. Our local UPS driver has been quarantined a couple times, so imagine if an entire shipping center is shut down or have less drivers for instance?

I have never been busier than the last 10 months. However, we get weird backorders still on some supplies. Masks and gloves were the big ones early on.
 
I have noticed inventory on some construction materials are low or none. I was in Home Depot yesterday and it has no construction screws of any size. All building materials have gone way up in price over the last year. No one will guarantee a quote for more than a few days, at best.
 
And add to the mix there is currently a worldwide shortage of cargo containers. Although ocean carriers have been working through the pandemic, the container manufacturers were not. As freight volumes dropped, carriers and rental companies weeded out containers too damaged to repair as they returned to depots. Normally these would have been replaced with new production, but very little was being built. As a result there are currently large numbers of containers on order with most factories just starting to work back to full production levels
 
I'm having delays in getting a hydraulic step I've ordered. The actuators are sourced from another vendor, and the are on backorder because of covid.

I person in a local FB groups asked for a contractor to build an extension. Multiple contractors said don't do it now because cost of materials is through the roof. Example: a 4x8 sheet of plywood that was $32 in early 2020 is now $96. Other lumber has a similar increase. The builder's feeling was that as long as people are home and can't go anywhere, they will drive up demand for home renovations.
 
Henry Boyd said:
And add to the mix there is currently a worldwide shortage of cargo containers. Although ocean carriers have been working through the pandemic, the container manufacturers were not. As freight volumes dropped, carriers and rental companies weeded out containers too damaged to repair as they returned to depots. Normally these would have been replaced with new production, but very little was being built. As a result there are currently large numbers of containers on order with most factories just starting to work back to full production levels
Click to expand...
What's the lifespan of a shipping container?
 
I owner a electrical business and one month ago I was paying $ 45 for a roll of 14/2 Romex wire, I bought a roll of 14/2 Romex wire today and paid $ 97.00
I also was not able to get Leviton Decora outlets, Supply house want to give me some off brand outlets that looked real cheap.
All they are doing is stopping the construction industry, Nobody is going to be able to afford doing anything.
 
My wife handles international logistics for a major retailer. If there is anything you need/want in the coming months that comes from overseas (or contains items made overseas), get it ASAP. The shortages will only continue to get worse as time goes on.

Ocean shipping was already a mess, add in the Suez fiasco and it amplifies things. Ships being delayed at port, skipping ports and the container shortage. Throw in the dock workers on the west coast to top things off....

As of the notes she gave me yesterday...there are a combined 25 vessels at anchor off the LA/Long Beach ports...with an average of 8 days at anchor....

It's been interesting to watch from the sidelines and I'm certainly glad we have advance notice on this....
 
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Everything is out of balance right now. We used to call trucking companies in the am and get afternoon pickups (never had an issue in 20+ years). Now, we still call in the am, and are lucky if they get to us in two days. Raw material lead times -- plastic and steel are out months, instead of weeks. People are not available -- nobody wants to work -- can't fill any positions. And the people you do get, don't last more than a day or two. Guy gets sick, and the whole place shuts down as people get tested. And customers haven't ordered anything in months, so they have zero inventory, and want everything yesterday. It's a tough time and demands patience.
 
b_arrington said:
What's the lifespan of a shipping container?
Click to expand...
Thats a loaded question. Its more a function of the economics of its service than the technical merits. If youbought a container built to marine specs and just parked it and kept up with minimal maintenance then fifty years easy. I still see boxes i bought in the early eighties when I worked for a container lessor parked here and there.

its generally the cost of repair vs book value that knocks the container out of freight service. At $100 a hour for repair work and original cost of much of the existing fleet less than $1500 per teu, get to about 8 years down and nbv intersects with repair costpretty quick. For rental companies, they depreciate to twenty years and start actively retiring after 12 to get better secondary market prices and ensure gain on sale.

One of the carriers i worked for evaluated on the functional use in the market the container was in for a repair v scrap decision. But they ran their own service garages world wide, so while the working life became indefinite, the costs were mostly going out of one pocket and into the other.
 
The estimated date for my axiom 12+ rv was 5 may. This morning I got email that that deliveries should recommence on or around: Jul 21, 2021.
I got crazy. I started researching again on internet and somehow I clicked on page 8 from google search and clicked on link on top from another UK shop and it said 1 in stock.
Called them 0,0000001 sec later and yes they had only 1 left.
Couldn’t take the risk of waiting for my refund from previous shop so ordered 0,00000003 sec later.
Package is now, when writing this, already picked up by fedex and will arrive day after tomorrow.

With the previous shop I made an agreement that when delay takes to long they refund me same day. After cancelling order, a couple hours they refunded me.

How beautiful life is….
 
Golfman25 said:
Everything is out of balance right now.

And customers haven't ordered anything in months, so they have zero inventory, and want everything yesterday. It's a tough time and demands patience.
Click to expand...

This is the biggest problem I have day to day and it’s getting on my nerves. Crazy customers are pitching faster than I can catch.

Raw material shortages compound the problem and nobody wants to hear the “excuses” even though their businesses are experiencing the same thing.

I have 2 years, 6 months and 12 days to go and am hanging on by my fingernails.
 
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