Get Ready For Sweeping Supply Chain Shortages As Major Threats Emerge At Ports

America’s supply chain is facing a series of threats. On both coasts, ports are rapidly getting overloaded, and ongoing rail and trucker strikes are likely to exacerbate disruptions and bring back empty shelves at grocery stores. U.S. consumers are already coping with the highest prices in four decades, but industry executives are saying that the nightmarish product shortages and price increases that have been causing lots of stress for millions of American families are here to stay, and those trends are going to continue to accelerate through the end of the year as U.S. ports face another turbulent shipping season.
Last week, one of the most respected supply chain executives came forward to warn the public that America’s supply chain won’t come back to what it was. Before the pandemic, we had probably one of the most efficient supply chains in history. Consumers were able to score those sweet deals from overseas, and grocers were able to keep the shelves stocked for much longer. Disruptions used to come and go. The system was resilient and adaptable. But over the past couple of years, everything has changed. And according to the CEO of FreightWaves, Craig Fuller, that supply chain is never coming back. 
In a recent statement, Fuller said that says “the well-running supply chain that many of us took for granted; that gave us an economy of superabundance, is nothing but a memory at this point”. "I think the golden era is probably over," he stressed. And the latest chokepoints are being created by the twin threats of prolonged rail and trucker strikes just as ports on both coasts are starting to get overwhelmed again. For many involved in our domestic supply chains, the ongoing negotiations between dockworker unions and employees on the U.S. West Coast are causing a lot of anxiety and stress. “The supply chain already is in crisis. This is a huge disruption,” added Peter Friedmann, the executive director of the Agriculture Transportation Coalition.The double threat of road and rail strikes during the peak season comes at a critical moment. New data shows that congestion is growing at the country’s top two ports, Los Angeles and Long Beach.
On the other side of the coast, congestion has been brewing for many weeks too. It goes without saying that business owners are freaking out about this situation. A new poll released last week by QIMA found that 95 percent of U.S. companies felt the impact of port congestion in 2022, and at least two-thirds of them expect congestion to continue, or worsen, by the end of 2022. Americans will continue to see products disappearing from grocery shelves at a time of record consumer prices. Another factor aggravating product shortages is the higher cost of energy supplies. In fact, the President of the National Black Farmers Association, John Boyd Jr., noted that soaring gasoline and diesel prices are likely to break the U.S. vulnerable food supply chain. 
He explained that “higher diesel prices impact farmers more than the average American as the farming industry relies on diesel for food harvesting and transport,” and reaffirmed that food storages remain a possibility for the coming months. For low and middle-income Americans, these supply chain bottlenecks are extremely concerning. Abusive food prices are regressive and particularly damaging to them.“This is a troubling time for all Americans. The current inflation acts like a tax on all of us, and it is hurting our quality of life,” Bakst stressed. 
All evidence suggests that the stage is set for the total supply chain breakdown experts have been warning about for a long time, and the despair that our society will experience will be extremely severe.We hope that you’re getting prepared this summer for the challenging times that are ahead of us. The rest of the year is not going to be pleasant, and 2023 is going to be even worse.

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