Keeping Supply Chain Flowing: Truckers Across Globe Hit Roadblocks As Some Governments Step In To Help Them

Getting goods to consumers is a complicated process that is impacting truck drivers around the world. In some states, there's no place open to find a meal or spend the night. In other countries, long wait times at borders and public system changes delay deliveries. But one things clear: fewer drivers on the roads makes some trips faster. News on the supply chain is also on delays in shipments of fruits, controversial hiring of seasonal workers, infected Amazon facilities and an oversupply of milk, as well.

Truckers hauling food are facing delays across the globe in the latest disruption to supply chains snarled by the coronavirus pandemic. They’re enduring lengthy wait times in Europe because of restrictions that have been imposed to control the virus’s spread. In South America, local laws have at times conflicted with country-wide ordinances that deem hauling food an essential service, leaving supplies sometimes stuck in storage. In parts of Africa, the shuttering of public transportation means drivers aren’t even able to make it into work. And huge spikes in demand have caused lags for loading at some U.S. warehouses. (Black, Gilbert and Almeida, 4/3)

Panic buying by shoppers cleared supermarket shelves of staples such as pasta and flour as populations worldwide prepared for lockdowns. Meat and dairy producers as well as fruit and vegetable farmers struggled to shift supplies from restaurants to grocery stores, creating the perception of shortages for consumers. Retailers and authorities say there are no underlying shortages and supplies of most products have been or will be replenished. Bakery and pasta firms in Europe and North America have increased production. (4/2)

The Trump administration is still soliciting immigrants for specific jobs despite droves of Americans filing for unemployment. It is urging medical professionals to contact a U.S. embassy to move their application process along, cognizant of the coronavirus pandemic sweeping America. It is easing requirements for immigrants to get jobs as farm workers, landscapers and crab pickers, aware that industries, including those that fill grocery store shelves, could be hurt if they couldn’t hire foreign employees. (Kumar, 4/2)

Workers at six Amazon facilities in Southern California have tested positive in the last week for the virus that causes COVID-19. Four of those cases were confirmed and disclosed in the last 24 hours to workers at the facilities involved. The newly affected facilities are fulfillment centers ONT2 in San Bernardino and LGB8 in Rialto, delivery center DLA8 in Hawthorne, and a smaller Amazon Prime Now warehouse in the Glassell Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. (Dean and Bhuiyan, 4/2)

Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association, Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, Dairy Business Association, Cooperative Network, Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation, Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin and Wisconsin Farmers Union say the current circumstances, far beyond their control, are beginning to result in farms having no place to accept their milk. In fact, this week some large Wisconsin dairy operations have begun dumping milk because there is no buyer for it. (Barrett, 4/2)

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