Truckers. (Photo: Wikipedia)
Commentary: America’s Supply Chain Truck Wreck
People no longer know where things come from, how they are made, and what it takes to satisfy consumer demands
By Andy Caldwell, October 3, 2021 2:19 am
I want to address the reason store shelves are emptying and why parts of the United States are dealing with scarcities of all kinds. Some of it has to do with the prolonged shutdown of our economy which literally broke the links in our supply chains. Much of it has to do with the trucking industry that has been ignored, slighted, taken for granted, and over regulated, to the point there are not enough trucks and truckers to offload hundreds of cargo ships waiting offshore of our ports throughout the nation.
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The supply chain breakage was exaggerated by way of a triple whammy of the COVID lockdown as it affected truckers. Deliveries were eliminated to stores and facilities that were closed. The truckers had a hard time finding eateries and bathrooms on the road. And, too many truckers ended up getting paid more for staying home with their families rather than going to work.
Speaking in terms of California’s adversarial and tumultuous relationship with the trucking industry, consider the following: California promulgated a diesel engine rule that took out of service some $20 billion dollars of diesel equipment, including trucks, farm and construction equipment, by way of air quality rule that was steeped in academic and regulatory corruption. The rule required multiple replacements and modifications of engines that were too expensive for most owner operators, and mom and pop companies, to comply with. Most of this equipment has never been replaced.
Then, there is Assembly Bill 5 by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego), currently tied up in the courts, as it affects the trucking industry. AB5 would serve to eliminate owner-operators and contract drivers from operating in the state of CA. On top of that, Gov. Gavin Newsom has declared no diesel trucks will be allowed to be sold or operated in this state within the next two decades. And, let us not forget, both Newsom and Biden are waging a war against the oil industry which is driving up fuel prices across the board.
Speaking of this war against truckers, this past week ExxonMobile was before the Santa Barbara county planning commission requesting that they be allowed to truck their oil until the pipeline they use is finally repaired or replaced. The county wasted years analyzing and hyperventilating about the dangers, once or twice a century no less, about the potential for an oil spill, should the trucking operation be approved. Yet, each and every day, America relies on the trucking industry to use our local streets, highways and freeways to deliver each and every item we rely on daily.
The problem here is that people, including decision makers and activists, no longer know where things come from, how they are made, and what it takes to satisfy consumer demands. They disdain the blue collar workers in our midst, as they try to eliminate their jobs for perceived environmental ills, including those having to with farming, manufacturing, industry and transportation.
I consider it both a blessing and a curse to have been brought up by parents who were part of the greatest generation. That is, the blessing has to do with what made this country great. The fact that people were rewarded by way of taking risk; they lived sacrificially for their families and their country; entrepreneurial spirits were honored for their contributions to society and economy; and most people got to keep what they earned, purchased, and inherited. The curse? Watching all of the above getting frittered away by a generation of smug, self-satisfied, delusional narcissists who take everything they received for granted while they systematically dismantle and disown our heritage, liberty, and economy.
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This article should be forwarded to politicians of every level (particularly Democrats). It should be printed and copies kept and handed out to every environmentalist you hear shooting their mouth off. I would like to hear Andy Caldwell on Phil Cowan’s radio show 1380am. Thank you Andy.
Oh, for California to have a governor with his head screwed on straight like the man that wrote this essay. His one paragraph summary of what the unelected bureaucrats at the California Air Resources Board did to the independent trucking industry is the best I’ve ever read.
BTW, I wonder what ever happened to the guy with the fake PhD whose ‘science’ guided Mary Nichols and her Comrades at CARB in the creation of their regulations.
Its all part of the plan. Create shortages of basic goods through legislation. Government created crisis allows emegency governing. The government can then control the production of basic goods to the people.
Communism.
Guess who keeps the money. Free enterprise for the Lornea Gonzleses. Kill anything the provides for working people who then and help others. Oh, she has such mouth on her. I’ve heard it many times. Greed is the only thing on their minds.
Well said Andy. Sorry to say but until the people with common sense recapture the messaging and in person voting these over educated idiots will continue to move us towards communism and to whore themselves to the unions and the elitists.
How did we get here? The education system was dumbed down so much that you had to send your children to a University so they could learn basic math and composition while being indoctrinated by people insulated from accountability by tenure.
The fifth largest economy in the world is under the watchful eye of glorified interns. Too many of California’s legislators have job histories consisting of “legislative office staffer” and/or activist/organizer and/or public-sector attorney. Too few of them have ever worked real jobs, let alone managed one. Even fewer have ever started a business. Too many of them have college degrees in nebulous, undefinable majors such as Political “Science” and “(insert people group) Studies”. And yet they write the rules for all businesses in California.
The governor is no exception: he has a political “science” degree from Santa Clara University. His business partner is the Getty Family – the whole family. If it weren’t for their money the would be no FatJack Winery with Gavin Newsom as its figurehead. Ironically, a portion of the Getty family fortune was derived from oil pumped out of the oilfields of Kern County.
If there is no voter integrity, this kind of stuff will get worse. Fix the election. Where’s the CAGOP? crickets
JW – CAGOP is doing what it has done for the last 30 years. It is waiting for its 30 pieces of silver. It is all about payoffs.
Great opinion piece. There may be a war on fossil fuels, but please don’t lie to your readers like Newsome or Biden can affect prices. OPEC and oil companies remember not too long ago when demand hit zero, or well, when oil hit negative on futures.
They are, as well, at war with this administration, because they could add more supply, but they simply don’t want to.
They instead, want to make shareholders happy.
The pipeline Biden shut down, was only 8% complete, and would’ve taken years to build, so that doesn’t affect price either.
I wish people didn’t manipulate their audiences into thinking any President controls price.
My local stores here in San Jose are well stocked. I understand that England is undergoing the same supply chain problems, and they have a Conservative government. I can believe that the trucking industry is overegulated, but please don’t blame Newsom for something that is a worldwide problem.