Out of Stock

[peakbagger]

FYI, you probably have heard about the supply chain issues on TV and may have run into it personally with respect for cars and trucks but its not just Christmas presents. In the last week I have ordered stainless steel hardware and snowblower spare parts and have run into low or out of stock issues. I think folks are thinking its just Christmas presents, but my personal and professional experience on a couple of construction projects is its across the board.

If you think you need service or spare parts, now is the time to buy them. They will not get any cheaper and may not be available if you wait. Even if the parts are in the US, odds are the post office will cease to be a viable delivery option by about mid November like what happened last year unless you have a few months to wait for them to work through the backlog . Delivery will shift to UPS and Fed Ex which will be backed up and no doubt surcharges will happen.

I live out in the woods so normally plan ahead in getting things in hand but the boy scout motto is going to apply for the indefinite future "Be Prepared"!

 

[tlc1976]

At work it’s a constant battle trying to find workarounds for parts we can no longer get.

Good thing I bought that spare stove a little while ago. Plus the other parts I have on hand.

 

[firefighterjake]

Mechanic at work today had to order a part for a truck's exhaust . . . a part found on many other large trucks. Said one person could only find one remanufactured unit in stock. Another person at a different company found two -- one new and one remanufacturered . . . in the entire country. Mechanic said to send the new one to him overnight no matter the cost of the part.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

So far I'm having trouble with 1/4" masonry bits and gloves. I've heard trim coil is low, but haven't had any problems. We bought some insulation equipment and had to wait 6 weeks for it.

 

[festerw]

On the subject I just read this. Long story short imports have remained steady but purchasing has increased. Up 9% from 2019 to 2020 and then up 14.5% 2020-2021.

America isn't running out of everything just because of a supply-chain crisis. America is running out of everything because Americans are buying so much stuff.

Claims that the US is running short on everything miss a key point. Record imports are part of the reason for the epic supply-chain congestion.

www.businessinsider.com

 

[Bad LP]

3 sticks of 3/4 Type L copper was 36.00 each. At that cost there was a bunch on the rack so no risk of short supply.

 

[peakbagger]

I needed a50 foot heavy duty 240 volt 50 amp extension cord for my solar trailer. Its three #6 conductors and a #8. Just buying the raw wire was going to be $400 let alone the expensive California grade twist lock connectors on each end. I searched around and found a name brand premade for less than half. No doubt sitting on a shelf somewhere being sold for what the supplier paid for it when they bought it (or dead inventory they were trying to get rid of).

The big companies do dynamic pricing like Home Depot , the selling price is linked to the todays price to replace the inventory. Places like Amazon also do dynamic surge pricing, if they detect a sudden demand for a product they will shift the price up. Uber got a lot of bad PR for that practice.

No doubt a lot of plastic piping is going to be going in to replace copper. I grabbed all the copper piping and fittings form that wood boiler I bought. I will haul it inside and break it down to go into the rack for when it gets reinstalled. No doubt a fair share of aluminum wiring may be going in.

 

[Grizzerbear]

Here at work we are waiting on a new gearbox for a 7 foot bush wacker brand rotary cutter. That's 1700 dollars and we've been waiting around a month and a half for that. We've also been waiting since may on a 16'x20' overhead door for the shop which I think was around 4000 dollars. No word on either that we will be getting them soon.

 

[Bad LP]

I needed a50 foot heavy duty 240 volt 50 amp extension cord for my solar trailer. Its three #6 conductors and a #8. Just buying the raw wire was going to be $400 let alone the expensive California grade twist lock connectors on each end. I searched around and found a name brand premade for less than half. No doubt sitting on a shelf somewhere being sold for what the supplier paid for it when they bought it (or dead inventory they were trying to get rid of).

The big companies do dynamic pricing like Home Depot , the selling price is linked to the todays price to replace the inventory. Places like Amazon also do dynamic surge pricing, if they detect a sudden demand for a product they will shift the price up. Uber got a lot of bad PR for that practice.

No doubt a lot of plastic piping is going to be going in to replace copper. I grabbed all the copper piping and fittings form that wood boiler I bought. I will haul it inside and break it down to go into the rack for when it gets reinstalled. No doubt a fair share of aluminum wiring may be going in.

I couldn't bring myself to running the PEX to the manifold. That would have bothered me for the rest of my life every time I went to the boiler to load it up with more wood.
That said my HVAC guy said everyone is running PEX that way.

 

[Dataman]

Brought my Snowblower in for Belt in May. Got it back this Sep. Belt was not easy to get.

 

[tlc1976]

Can’t get our aluminum channel at work. We use a proprietary shape and our supplier has been using the dies to make it for the last 40 years. Now they’re having problems getting the raw aluminum.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Brought my Snowblower in for Belt in May. Got it back this Sep. Belt was not easy to get.

I use link belts whenever I can now.

Accu-Link®

www.agrisales-inc.com

 

[Rusty18]

Baby formula and water softener tanks!

 

[Grizzerbear]

I've had a hard time finding morton soft and clean water softener ever since this began. It's the only kind I will use. I hear ya on the formula. 3 months removed from buying it and glad.

 

[ABMax24]

What's going on down there? The stores are full around here, no real shortages to speak of. I guess tires, specifically winter tires are in short supply, but for consumer goods that's about it.

Industry is a different story though, most of the rental heavy equipment in the area is already booked for the entire winter, and you can't buy it either, our local Cat dealer is looking at Q4 2022, or Q1 2023 for new telehandlers, John Deere is a minimum 1 year for delivery on a new tractor.

Steel shortages seem to be easing back just a little though, furthest we've had to go is 5hrs away to get steel, but we've always found the sizes we needed.

Snowmobiles are coming late from Polaris and Doo, a few pretty unhappy customers in the area, some won't get their new Doo's until the end of February, usually they are here about now.

 

[tlc1976]

People at work were saying carbon steel is stabilizing, but aluminum and stainless is still getting more expensive and scarce.

 

[EbS-P]

What's going on down there?

40% of container imports go through ports of Long beach and LA. Can’t hire enough drivers. I like to know how much is related rooted to/in distribution. Went to by Gatorade at target. 3-24 oz lemon bottled and 6-12 packs of frost. That was it…..

 

[ABMax24]

40% of container imports go through ports of Long beach and LA. Can’t hire enough drivers. I like to know how much is related rooted to/in distribution. Went to by Gatorade at target. 3-24 oz lemon bottled and 6-12 packs of frost. That was it…..

We bought a bunch here on Monday, the usual 10 for $10 for the 32oz bottles, no lack of supply there.

As an outsider the California port mess seems easy to resolve, but in practice I'm not sure that's the case. Drivers aren't really paid what they should be for one, and laws like AB5 really make it difficult for owner/operators to survive, couple that with unions that have monopolies over some of the ports and it creates the perfect storm for a situation like this. I'm just really thankful I live somewhere where these issues don't exist, if my normal trucking company can't get my delivery made on time I call the next company, and the next company until I find one, and if that doesn't work we offer more money to make sure the job gets done. From what I see port operators and customers of these goods don't have these options, and in many way are handcuffed into accepting the situation.

 

[Highbeam]

We bought a bunch here on Monday, the usual 10 for $10 for the 32oz bottles, no lack of supply there.

As an outsider the California port mess seems easy to resolve, but in practice I'm not sure that's the case. Drivers aren't really paid what they should be for one, and laws like AB5 really make it difficult for owner/operators to survive, couple that with unions that have monopolies over some of the ports and it creates the perfect storm for a situation like this. I'm just really thankful I live somewhere where these issues don't exist, if my normal trucking company can't get my delivery made on time I call the next company, and the next company until I find one, and if that doesn't work we offer more money to make sure the job gets done. From what I see port operators and customers of these goods don't have these options, and in many way are handcuffed into accepting the situation.

Right, we have government ferries shutting down and restaraunts shutting down both due to lack of employees. My a$$. They just aren't willing to pay the market rate and to heck with the customers.

I'll go bus tables if the price is right.

 

[bholler]

Right, we have government ferries shutting down and restaraunts shutting down both due to lack of employees. My a$$. They just aren't willing to pay the market rate and to heck with the customers.

I'll go bus tables if the price is right.

Yeah I hear everyone saying they can't get employees. But we have people asking for work atleast once a week even though we aren't looking for employees. That is because we pay well and are a stable company.

 

[peakbagger]

The job situation is probably a thread on its own in the inglenook

 

[Highbeam]

The job situation is probably a thread on its own in the inglenook

It's related because the media is claiming that they can't move this freight due to lack of manpower. Or at least that's what our news said. Longshoreman, truckers, etc. The ports are full of product with ships full of more floating offshore. Then our store shelves are empty. So the missing link is between the port and the shelf somewhere. That link seems to be manpower.

 

[Rusty18]

I saw where gasoline was $7.59 a gallon in parts of California, I hope those trucks fill up before they get to that area! Could add 20% on to the freight charge real quick!

 

[fbelec]

i ordered a fridge in march of this year and as of right now the date for delivery is in mid november. was told that the company was having trouble getting steel and certain plastics. we'll see if it gets delivered

 

[begreen]

Can’t get our aluminum channel at work. We use a proprietary shape and our supplier has been using the dies to make it for the last 40 years. Now they’re having problems getting the raw aluminum.

I read yesterday that this is about to hit the industry hard, especially cars which use aluminum alloys. The problem is with the shutting down of a notable percentage of magnesium production in China due to energy shortages. This is a critical element for aluminum alloys. China is the world's largest producer of magnesium, so when it sneezes, the world gets a cold. I think the US is #2, but global demand for US magnesium will go up due to Chinese shortages. Could be trouble for many EVs and for Ford's F150.