2021 Supply Disruptions

[kphoger]

Because of Covid, may comvenience stores are refusing refillable cups, which means more disposable cups which are in short supply.  My local Casey's General Store has "substitute" drink cups from Sam's Club, but only in the medium size.

So, does that mean no discount at the stores that offer such?

[US71]

Because of Covid, may comvenience stores are refusing refillable cups, which means more disposable cups which are in short supply.  My local Casey's General Store has "substitute" drink cups from Sam's Club, but only in the medium size.

So, does that mean no discount at the stores that offer such?

That's right.

[Rothman]

Is there a corresponding shortage of mustard/mayo/horseradish/BBQ/etc. packets as well? All media accounts I've seen refer to a "ketchup shortage," not a "condiment packaging shortage."

As I understand it, the issue arose because so many restaurants were long in the habit of automatically throwing packets of ketchup in the bag whenever someone had an order to go or for delivery involving french fries. With a dramatic increase in the number of take-out/delivery orders... eventually they started running out of ketchup packets. Since there was not a widespread habit of throwing packets of mayo or whatever in the bag without being specifically asked for them, a similar phenomenon did not occur with other condiments.

Myself, I certainly threw plenty of unused ketchup packets in the garbage in 2020 (since I don't use it). Then at some point in the last few months the flow of wasted ketchup packets shut off, as places started asking if I wanted it rather than just providing it unrequested.

My local Five Guys always throws about a dozen ketchup packets in my bag every time, without asking.  And I don't use ketchup on anything, so it's pointless to save them.  And I doubt they would take them back due to health regulations, especially in the COVID era.

they provide enough fries for a large quantity. they gave me a bunch of fries in a small container! 

It was an ingenius strategy:  Make people think they're getting extra fries when they really aren't (i.e., we really think a business would not track fry servings?).

[kphoger]

so we had to use our 8 year old SUV to haul our stuff to NY! 

In what world is an 8-year-old car considered old?

Heck, we just bought a new car a couple of weeks ago, and it's 12 years old.

[webny99]

Generally it seems like five years is about when stuff on your car starts to go and you start having more frequent car issues. For that reason, I would consider anything more than five years old "not new".

Sure, I'd maybe give a car 10 or 15 years before I'd consider it truly old. I'd definitely consider anything from before the turn of the century to be truly old at this point.

[kphoger]

Wow, five years is only 75k miles (assuming 15k per year).  Five digits on the odometer certainly doesn't seem "old" to me.  I haven't even owned a vehicle with only five digits on the odometer in probably twelve years.

At any rate, I can't imagine feeling put out to have to use an eight-year-old vehicle to move stuff.

Back to topic, I was going to rent a car during our hunt for a new one a few weeks ago.  We went on a Saturday morning, and they didn't have any available till Monday, which worked out OK for us.  By Monday, though, a friend from church offered to let us borrow his pickup (twenty years old, by the way, but with less than 100k miles on the odometer and in great condition) instead.  There was a guy in front of us in line at the rental agency who was cussing up a storm because he couldn't rent a car that day.  Fortunately, because of this thread, I knew ahead of time they might be out of stock.

[JayhawkCO]

An interesting supply disruption to add to this thread: board games.  A lot of suppliers are having an almost impossible time getting cardboard in from China with all of the backups.  Similarly, plastic components.  Prices of new games have gone up fairly dramatically, with a lot of the newer "heavy" games coming in at $80-$100 to counteract the additional logistics costs.

Chris

[kphoger]

Wow, five years is only 75k miles (assuming 15k per year).  Five digits on the odometer certainly doesn't seem "old" to me.  I haven't even owned a vehicle with only five digits on the odometer in probably twelve years.

At any rate, I can't imagine feeling put out to have to use an eight-year-old vehicle to move stuff.

Back to topic, I was going to rent a car during our hunt for a new one a few weeks ago.  We went on a Saturday morning, and they didn't have any available till Monday, which worked out OK for us.  By Monday, though, a friend from church offered to let us borrow his pickup (twenty years old, by the way, but with less than 100k miles on the odometer and in great condition) instead.  There was a guy in front of us in line at the rental agency who was cussing up a storm because he couldn't rent a car that day.  Fortunately, because of this thread, I knew ahead of time they might be out of stock.

our ravvy (thats what the mechanic names her) is 150k miles! 

150k miles doesn't really deserve a :1wow: emoji, does it?

My previous car (2006 Pathfinder) just went kaput at 228,766 miles on the odometer a few weeks ago.  The one before that–well, I wrecked it, so that doesn't count.  The one before that (2004 Grand Caravan) had upwards of 205,000 miles on it before we drove it from Wichita to Tennessee to buy the one I ended up wrecking, and I think it could have gone quite a bit longer if I'd wanted to foot the bill for a couple of repairs.

Our best friends, who will soon be returning to Mexico as missionaries, have a 2005 Pathfinder with almost 250,000 miles–although, to be fair, it had a 2012 Xterra engine put in a couple of years ago after an overheating incident cracked the block.

For what it's worth, in the car we have now, I expect to hit 150,000 miles within a year.

[Scott5114]

Because of Covid, may comvenience stores are refusing refillable cups, which means more disposable cups which are in short supply. 

Which makes no damn sense since covid doesn't really spread by surface-to-surface contact anyway. You're more likely to catch it from breathing in the air from the guy filling up his disposable cup in front of you than you are someone filling up a reusable cup.

[Scott5114]

150k miles doesn't really deserve a :1wow: emoji, does it?

My Pontiac G6 is currently at 116,465 miles and I haven't had any major mechanical problems with it. other than the consumables (battery, tires) the only thing I've had to replace is the headlight sockets. Now, granted, it's up there enough in miles that I don't necessarily want to take it on a multi-day trip if I can avoid it, but if a rental car were unavailable, I wouldn't feel too nervous about it.

I don't think that getting a rental would necessarily be that hard for me personally because there is a car dealership here that does a side business renting out cars. Often the cars they rent are new ones from their lot with cosmetic problems that make them unsaleable. The last time we rented from them, in June, they gave us a car that had been absolutely pummeled by a recent hailstorm. Which was perfectly fine with us, of course–we still got to Kansas City no problem.

[hbelkins]

I've noticed bare shelves in the pet food and treats sections of many stores.

[kphoger]

Because of Covid, may comvenience stores are refusing refillable cups, which means more disposable cups which are in short supply. 

Which makes no damn sense since covid doesn't really spread by surface-to-surface contact anyway. You're more likely to catch it from breathing in the air from the guy filling up his disposable cup in front of you than you are someone filling up a reusable cup.

In beginning, I'm sure it was in the same of health and sanitation.  But which costs the station more money:  a new cup each time, or discounted refills?  If it's the latter, then they have little financial incentive to revert to the way things were.

(It's probably still not a good idea to pick your nose and then rub the snot on the dispenser nozzle...)

[Scott5114]

Because of Covid, may comvenience stores are refusing refillable cups, which means more disposable cups which are in short supply. 

Which makes no damn sense since covid doesn't really spread by surface-to-surface contact anyway. You're more likely to catch it from breathing in the air from the guy filling up his disposable cup in front of you than you are someone filling up a reusable cup.

In beginning, I'm sure it was in the same of health and sanitation.  But which costs the station more money:  a new cup each time, or discounted refills?  If it's the latter, then they have little financial incentive to revert to the way things were.

(It's probably still not a good idea to pick your nose and then rub the snot on the dispenser nozzle...)

The cost of even a gigantic cup of soda is only a few cents, only slightly more than the cost of pulling water from the tap (since that's what a fountain does, mix concentrated soda with tap water).* The rest of the price is paying for the cup and the markup (and possibly the labor of an employee filling the cup for you). So I would expect that the margin would be better on a refillable cup since the price you pay is almost all markup. I don't have hard numbers from a convenience store to back this up, but that was the impression that I got from seeing the numbers at Burger King.

So my guess is that it's just well-meaning but ineffective sanitation theater.


*When I worked at Burger King, employees were allowed to have all the free soda they wanted, so long as it was in the cheaper, non-branded cups that we handed out for free water. Then, at the casino, soda was cheap enough that the facility just handed it out for free, cup and all.

[SectorZ]

Because of Covid, may comvenience stores are refusing refillable cups, which means more disposable cups which are in short supply. 

Which makes no damn sense since covid doesn't really spread by surface-to-surface contact anyway. You're more likely to catch it from breathing in the air from the guy filling up his disposable cup in front of you than you are someone filling up a reusable cup.

In beginning, I'm sure it was in the same of health and sanitation.  But which costs the station more money:  a new cup each time, or discounted refills?  If it's the latter, then they have little financial incentive to revert to the way things were.

(It's probably still not a good idea to pick your nose and then rub the snot on the dispenser nozzle...)

The cost of even a gigantic cup of soda is only a few cents, only slightly more than the cost of pulling water from the tap (since that's what a fountain does, mix concentrated soda with tap water).* The rest of the price is paying for the cup and the markup (and possibly the labor of an employee filling the cup for you). So I would expect that the margin would be better on a refillable cup since the price you pay is almost all markup. I don't have hard numbers from a convenience store to back this up, but that was the impression that I got from seeing the numbers at Burger King.

So my guess is that it's just well-meaning but ineffective sanitation theater.


*When I worked at Burger King, employees were allowed to have all the free soda they wanted, so long as it was in the cheaper, non-branded cups that we handed out for free water. Then, at the casino, soda was cheap enough that the facility just handed it out for free, cup and all.

Working at a restaurant in the mid-90's, I know the cost per 16 oz. of soda from the fountain worked out to just about three cents of syrup. This chain restaurant had no care in the world about employees drinking it for free.

I know of more than a few corporate offices that even had fountain soda where it was a freebie for employees (one of which is a large gas station chain in New England).

[US71]

Because of Covid, may comvenience stores are refusing refillable cups, which means more disposable cups which are in short supply. 

Which makes no damn sense since covid doesn't really spread by surface-to-surface contact anyway. You're more likely to catch it from breathing in the air from the guy filling up his disposable cup in front of you than you are someone filling up a reusable cup.

In beginning, I'm sure it was in the same of health and sanitation.  But which costs the station more money:  a new cup each time, or discounted refills?  If it's the latter, then they have little financial incentive to revert to the way things were.

(It's probably still not a good idea to pick your nose and then rub the snot on the dispenser nozzle...)

The cost of even a gigantic cup of soda is only a few cents, only slightly more than the cost of pulling water from the tap (since that's what a fountain does, mix concentrated soda with tap water).* The rest of the price is paying for the cup and the markup (and possibly the labor of an employee filling the cup for you). So I would expect that the margin would be better on a refillable cup since the price you pay is almost all markup. I don't have hard numbers from a convenience store to back this up, but that was the impression that I got from seeing the numbers at Burger King.

So my guess is that it's just well-meaning but ineffective sanitation theater.


*When I worked at Burger King, employees were allowed to have all the free soda they wanted, so long as it was in the cheaper, non-branded cups that we handed out for free water. Then, at the casino, soda was cheap enough that the facility just handed it out for free, cup and all.

Working at a restaurant in the mid-90's, I know the cost per 16 oz. of soda from the fountain worked out to just about three cents of syrup. This chain restaurant had no care in the world about employees drinking it for free.

I know of more than a few corporate offices that even had fountain soda where it was a freebie for employees (one of which is a large gas station chain in New England).

When I worked at Casey's, they gave employees what I call "sippy cups": basically travel coffee mugs. This was to conserve fountain cups, though most employees didn't use the mugs.

[LM117]

Doesn't seem particularly sanitary, either.

Reuse my own bag?  Sure.  Reuse someone else's bag?  No, thanks.

Agreed. Not the smartest thing to do.

[LM117]

Several auto plants are tapping the brakes due to chip shortages.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/general-motors-pausing-production-chip-shortage

[ET21]

Wow, five years is only 75k miles (assuming 15k per year).  Five digits on the odometer certainly doesn't seem "old" to me.  I haven't even owned a vehicle with only five digits on the odometer in probably twelve years.

At any rate, I can't imagine feeling put out to have to use an eight-year-old vehicle to move stuff.

Back to topic, I was going to rent a car during our hunt for a new one a few weeks ago.  We went on a Saturday morning, and they didn't have any available till Monday, which worked out OK for us.  By Monday, though, a friend from church offered to let us borrow his pickup (twenty years old, by the way, but with less than 100k miles on the odometer and in great condition) instead.  There was a guy in front of us in line at the rental agency who was cussing up a storm because he couldn't rent a car that day.  Fortunately, because of this thread, I knew ahead of time they might be out of stock.

our ravvy (thats what the mechanic names her) is 150k miles! 

150k miles doesn't really deserve a :1wow: emoji, does it?

My inlaws had a Honda Odyssey with 387K miles before they sold it to get a new car in 2019.

[Duke87]

Looks like supply chains aren't going to resolve themselves as quickly as people hoped:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-25/the-world-economy-s-supply-chain-problem-keeps-getting-worse

Yes, well, this is the way in which Americans get reminded globalism is a thing. It's all well and good if we've decided for our sake "hey, economy's open, everyone go back to work and spend money", but when countries we import goods and raw materials from are still doing lockdowns and not considering the production or movement of the stuff we're buying sufficiently "essential" to be allowed to continue, then we deal with the resulting disruptions all the same.

[Rothman]

Up next, Lunchables!
Blown out at Food Lion over by my area.
My shopper sent me this image

You order through a shopper and your diet contains Lunchables?

[GaryV]

I love lunchables as it's a easy option.

As do countless thousands of moms who are probably buying them for back to school lunches.

[Scott5114]

They still have the pepperoni pizza ones, so you're good.

I used to bring Lunchables to work, so unfortunately I associate them with casinos and sadness now. I don't think I've eaten one since I quit. My current job has no guarantee of any at-work storage space at all other than my car (I travel between job sites), so Lunchables haven't been a viable option for me (though they will be once it cools off).

[Bruce]

I'm guessing this shortage is only because of the 2/$4 sale going on (probably to clear out inventory and take advantage of the time of the year).

A new type of shortage I've seen recently: any COVID self-test kit that is compatible with the Canadian requirements. Lots of people are heading over the border now.

[Scott5114]

I'm guessing this shortage is only because of the 2/$4 sale going on (probably to clear out inventory and take advantage of the time of the year).

That's what I thought too, but zooming in shows the text "PRICED LOW EVERY DAY", meaning it's one of those annoying things grocery stores do (mine is guilty of it too) where they just show the regular price on a larger tag to make it look like a sale. It also looks like a loyalty card is required to get that price.

[hotdogPi]

I'm guessing this shortage is only because of the 2/$4 sale going on (probably to clear out inventory and take advantage of the time of the year).

That's what I thought too, but zooming in shows the text "PRICED LOW EVERY DAY", meaning it's one of those annoying things grocery stores do (mine is guilty of it too) where they just show the regular price on a larger tag to make it look like a sale. It also looks like a loyalty card is required to get that price.

At Stop & Shop where I worked, both types existed. The fake sales had the same "sale" price and regular price, which this one doesn't.

Food Lion and Stop & Shop are owned by the same parent company.