I have a question
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Started by wglassfo - Oct. 14, 2021, 12:36 a.m.

I am puzzled as to how this will work

It seems Biden asked some top execs for help to clear the back log of containers on  ships waiting to be unloaded

Well it seems Fed Ex, UPS,  Walmart and possibly some  others with co -operation from union dock workers, port authorities etc all agreed to work 24/7 to clear out  the back log at ports even asking fork lift drivers in ware houses to work 24/7 in an effort to get containers out of port and on to trains, trucks etc.

My question:

Isn't this just going to push most  of the container freight further down the supply chain. Drivers can only work x number of hrs/day/week etc. I expect trains are running full bore but maybe they could do better, with bigger loads but you have to have some body load and unload the train.

I have no idea where extra help might come from unless they pay really good wages

We know there is a shortage of truck drivers today, so 24/7 at the port won't find more trucks

I suppose if you pay more for freight to Mayberry then that freight would  move but some body else will have freight stranded for lack of a truck

I just don't see how this will put stuff at the end of the line in Kansas very much quicker than it already  moves

Sort of like shuffling the dominos up a bit, before the next game, or cards for the next hand

I suppose we will have to watch and see if this works to move stuff to Kansas any quicker

After all isn't the idea to get stuff to the end user quicker and have supply chain  problems run more smoothly and on time

These are smart people or they would not be CEO's of various Co's such as Walmart, Fed Ex etc.

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By metmike - Oct. 14, 2021, 12:49 a.m.
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Another great question Wayne!

I have no clue. Maybe somebody else knows?

By cutworm - Oct. 14, 2021, 5:09 a.m.
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We are fast on our way to being Venezuela. 

First we try to make health care "free" and let government run it.. Now we have a healthcare shortage.

Then we tell people to not work ,not go anywhere and we pay them as much as they make working. Causing shortages such as toilet paper ect,

Then we tell people you can't work unless vaxed and more people (the most obvious  health care workers ) leave the work force, and worsening the healthcare "crisis.

Now we are going to magically get more labor at the ports? 

This is just the beginning.



By 7475 - Oct. 14, 2021, 6:38 a.m.
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Might be all Hollywood but it sure can be spun around as a valiant effort come next election.

Hell, we need to scale back a little at Christmas anyway.

  John

By metmike - Oct. 14, 2021, 2:37 p.m.
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John,

The time of Christmas that features opening presents is the ONLY time of year that I actually get depressed from.

I am the opposite of being materialistic. I'm an environmentalist that believes in not wasting natural resources and also not wasting money on STUFF to make me happy.

I believe in using STUFF until it completely dies and can't be repaired anymore.

All my clothes were presents from Christmas, Fathers Day and my birthday(I buy the tennis shoes at Walmart and bought 3 pair last time to last 5 years because they were cheap and perfect). My wife made me buy a new suit for our sons wedding 5 years ago.

When my wife is not home, I turn the AC and heat off.

Anyways this is to set the scene at Christmas for present opening.

My wife grew up in the projects and loves buying STUFF because she never had much growing up and has this unconscious love for stuff(which is probably normal).

At Christmas, she goes bonkers buying, usually a few thousands dollars worth of presents for the kids and grandkids.

She spends way more on the grand kids than their parents(our daughter) do. 

I never have a clue with regards to what she bought(other than the huge piles of wrapped presents.........usually over 100 sitting next to the Christmas tree, just from what she got.

She is EXTREMELY generous with her gift buying.

You can imagine that it takes well over an hour sometimes for everybody to open their presents. Each present gets several minutes of attention before going to the next one.

I discover what the presents are at the moment that the recipient does. When everybody opens the presents.........they are filled with surprise and joy and Deb loves that moment........which lasts for.............that moment. This is mainly what she does it for.

In contrast, when I see the present come out from  inside the wrapper I think "dang, I wonder what that one cost and I will often ask Deb......."how much was that one???'

The answer is usually spun to make it sound like it was cheap from a sale or the Dollar General or The Goodwill. This is where she gets tons of the STUFF. 

I can't wait for it to end, even though I'm recording everything on my video camera and being nice.


The odd thing is that my parents were the exact same. In the later years, my Mom would go nuts ordering things on the Home shopping network for Christmas, starting in July. 

I don't know if my Dad ever bought us a Christmas present. Best Dad the world has ever known but never bought any presents. Extremely spiritual and not materialistic.

I think that we all should take full advantage of technology and buy all the tools that we need to maximize that. 

However, most people go overboard and it results in old stuff getting thrown into the landfill so they can have the newest version of the same thing.

Clothes were made to keep us warm. I get looking good but does this make you a better person and happier? 

My family in recent years just gives me money gift certificates at Chrismas............and my wife gets mad at me for using them to buy groceries/food. 

OK, getting carried away into NTR land ...sorry about that but this relates to OVER consumption  demand in the real world that goes thru the roof every Christmas........which is coming up and agreement with Johns wonderful comment that we need to scale back anyway.

Go John!

BTW, my wife is a wonderful person and is more frugal, less materialistic than alot of people that we know and metmike is the oddball.

By bear - Oct. 15, 2021, 5:54 p.m.
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sorry cutworm,  i have to disagree a bit.  our money supply is not going up at 200% per year, year, after year.

it is more like we are slowly on our way to becoming argentina.  that is what my model is showing.  

maybe i will publish it later. 

By bear - Oct. 15, 2021, 6 p.m.
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from what i know the port in LA is still not working 24/7... they are not working 7 days a week.  and not 24 hours a day.   they could expand hours, and days.

this is partly the fault of the union and the port authorities.  

and if the union and port increase hours, then they still need enough trucks/trains  to haul things away.  

and...from all the interviews i see on tv,  trucking companies claim they are short on drivers.

By wglassfo - Oct. 15, 2021, 8:32 p.m.
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Just one problem after another

Brazil is short of inputs as they plant this yrs crop

Round up and other chemicals used as a per-plant spray to  kill weeds for a clean seed bed are not available

What do you do?? Plant and hope another chemical will give partial control. Reduced yield is very possible.

Here in NA  prices have gone up for inputs just as coal, oil, copper etc have. Some body is going to go with out. Fertilizer plants have shut down

Now just so you don't think things will work out, given time by next yrs spring planting

We have shortages affecting our fall harvest here today

John Deere plant workers are on strike

Some real life examples

John Deere has only so much inventory on their store shelves. They can't go to the plant and order another part

So: This is what has happened. If your J.D combine breaks down and no parts are available what do you do. The combine is essentially junk until the part arrives and will that be December when the field is full of snow. Farmers have had to resort to trading their broke down combine for one that is in working order. We have a brand new combine, on our farm. It hasn't done maybe two days of work with out a break down. Some serious, like more than a day to repair, some take a couple hrs. You would think new means no break down, just some minor tweaks and away you go.. So far the parts have been available but the head office Co. with maybe a dozen dealerships under a big tent has two combines of which neither one is for sale One is brand new and a demo or used when some body needs a combine while theirs is fixed. The other is our old trade in, also used as a spare for customers in need of a combine for a day or so. What happens when parts run out I don't know. I think the co. ordered double the inventory in preparation for short parts supply, way back when the combines were built.

It's not just farm tractors and combines: farmer x has a 2019 truck sitting idle, for want of parts. He was lucky and kept his old 2003 truck

You may be a bit peeved to find some products not on the shelf, but can you imagine, for example: if you have no way to get to work or the lights don't come on when at work. This is sort of what we are facing down on the farm trying to get a harvest done before snow flies and stops all field work

Then we worry about supply for next yrs crop

This supply line fiasco has to be fixed 

Just some things that affect me

By cutworm - Oct. 15, 2021, 9:51 p.m.
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Bear this is what Argentina's inflation looked like. Close enough to Venezuela!  

The Argentine economy fared badly during the 1980s when the first debt crisis was in full swing. Growth of real output stagnated, financial markets collapsed, prices rose as the currency steadily depreciated, and capital fled the country in pursuit of safer havens. Most public enterprises were running large deficits, and the external debt kept mounting. The central government, hampered by low tax collections and desperate for revenues, turned to the central bank for finance through the taxation of deposits and money creation.


Argentina experienced serious economic and financial difficulties in the 1980s. Hyperinflation in 1989-90 finally elicited the necessary political consensus for reform. ... Inflation, which had risen gradually over the previous three decades, soared—reaching average annual rates of 2,600 percent in 1989 and 1990.

Finance & Development, March 2000 - Argentina's Structural Reforms of the 1990s (imf.org)

over-time
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By Richard - Oct. 16, 2021, 8:30 a.m.
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While many people do not want to work, if you offer offer-time to everyone, there will be a huge group that take it and will work more hours.