Product shortages in your area ?

[ERD50]

Our car (we have only one) is 6 years old and on its original tires (46,000 miles) so this is in the cards for us, too. The tread appears to be adequate, but it's easy to tell the difference when driving in heavy rain. So it's time to order a new set and hope they are not too delayed.

This week DW's car was in for regular automotive maintenance. The service indicated the front tires are approaching replacement time. their distributors cannot give them an ETA for the tires. They are likely in the containers off the west coast.Fortunately it is not urgent, and now that DW is retired she drives less than 50 miles a week. They have the tires on order for us. No need for a deposit, they said if for any reason we find the tire make/model somewhere else they will have no problem using our order for someone else.

Goodyear. The shop is trying to match the same model as the rear tires (which were replaced early last year and do not have an issue. They are a small local chain. Since we started with them early in 2020 they provide excellent service at a great price. We might be able to hunt it down from or go with something different from Walmart or Target, but the cost including installation would be higher, and we want to keep supporting local businesses like this one.

Try Tirerack.com. If your local installer is agreeable (many are), Tirerack will ship the tires directly to them.

I damaged the sidewall on my car recently, and needed to have the tire cut down to match the wear of the others. Yes, it hurts to make a brand new tire 'worn' (and pay extra for the 'privilege'!), but I'm told the drive-train can be stressed by constantly adjusting for the different rotational speed. But Tirerack did that for me too, I just gave them the average tread depth of the other tires.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=259


-ERD50

 

[Aerides]

Right, so as I said, why not use the military or national guard? It is clearly a national crisis on many fronts. And sure there are issues to be worked out with using federal resources at private companies. But we have a broken logistics system. I truly don't see why we can't work out how to address it with federal resources. I'm not a government-should-solve-all-our problems guy but I'm also not a we-should-let-stupid-problems-cripple-us guy either.

That is being looked (nat'l guard, etc.) at per an interview I heard with the Sec'y of Transportation earlier in the week. But yes, they are trying to balance this and not have the Feds overtake private stuff, and trying to pull a lot of different levers as there are many points of failure occurring at the same time.

 

[Car-Guy]

We stopped by our local Walmart yesterday get our annual flu shot and to pick-up a few things. I was thinking about this thread while I was there... Sooooo, I paid extra attention to their stock levels, limits , etc... I noticed some of the OTC drugs seemed to be a little low on stock, but maybe they just hadn't restocked that area... Anyway, I as I walked through the rest of the store it looked like every shelf was fully stocked... Even a few things I know they were out of stock a few weeks ago are fully stocked again... No limits on anything... (As an FYI, I may now have enough TP to last me the rest of my life.) The one thing they were short on were "human checkers"... Only one lane was opened with a live checker.... Sooooo, I used the self checkout lane... Hate to do that when I have full basket of "stuff"...

 

[John Galt III]

Aldi's cheap but good all natural grape juice, only the sugar that is in the grapes naturally. And no high fructose corn syrup. I haven't seen it on the shelf for months. I'm not sure if they even stock it anymore. I used to buy it a lot. I would have it whenever I wanted to reduce my beer consumption. I might change to cranberry juice.

 

[Amethyst]

If you can drink cranberry juice without added sugar, you are tougher than I am. Not sure it's even sold that way. Grape juice is naturally sweet, which is why we can buy it with "no sugar added." It is even used as a natural sweetener in other beverages, as is apple juice (which is so sweet I can't stand it).

Aldi's cheap but good all natural grape juice, only the sugar that is in the grapes naturally. And no high fructose corn syrup. I haven't seen it on the shelf for months. I'm not sure if they even stock it anymore. I used to buy it a lot. I would have it whenever I wanted to reduce my beer consumption. I might change to cranberry juice.

 

[John Galt III]

If you can drink cranberry juice without added sugar, you are tougher than I am. Not sure it's even sold that way. Grape juice is naturally sweet, which is why we can buy it with "no sugar added." It is even used as a natural sweetener in other beverages, as is apple juice (which is so sweet I can't stand it).

In reality I may end up buying cran/grape, which I have done in the past. I think it comes without the much maligned high fructose corn syrup.

 

[Amethyst]

If the grape juice is the sweetener, that would eliminate the need for HFCS (which is bad stuff, I agree). I'm not a juice person, but cran/grape does sound tasty!

In reality I may end up buying cran/grape, which I have done in the past. I think it comes without the much maligned high fructose corn syrup.

 

[indiajust]

Walmarts here in NH and VT are stripped bare every weekend. They struggle to restock during the week. It has become routine for shoppers to tour all 3 grocery stores in town till they have everything they want.

 

[gooddog]

Trans-ocean container shipping cost has gone from $3,800 per container to just over $18,000 per container. These are 'car load' containers that are utilized with typical semi trucks. This, combined with other issues are keeping products from arriving to retail distribution points. When these products do get to shelves, inflation is going to race ahead even further in all probability.

 

[John Galt III]

Non-inflation anecdote: at my local discount food store, a new 'fancy' ice cream from the northwest U.S. showed up a few months ago, on sale for $1.99 for 1.75 quarts. It was in it's own little freezer showcase. It then disappeared, but showed again in a far away corner of the store. Still $1.99 for 1.75 quarts. And it is supposedly a boutique brand. I'm not going to name it, for obvious reasons. I find it interesting how marketing works. Maybe it's a 'loss leader', who knows. I like it and buy a lot. Knock on wood. Edit to add: currently they have only one flavor, vanilla. Used to be 3 other flavors.

 

[ychuck46]

Small town TN

We grocery shopped at Kroger's in town this week. All aisles were well stocked; no issues.

 

[dp226]

We have been out traveling around the South East. One thing I have picked up on is that places are out of cups.

At Kentucky Fried Chicken outside of LittleRock, no cups of any size. When I asked they said it had been that way for a couple of days and they were not sure when they would get any.

At a McDonalds in Oklahoma, no small cups, only large ones. Same situation at a McDonalds in North Florida

Buck-ees in South Georgia. Only small Icee Cups.

 

[Ronstar]

Got an oil change today. Talked to the owner of the shop - he is having a tough time getting car parts. He has a Jeep Grand Cherokee in the shop for the past 2 months waiting for a transmission part.

 

[Car-Guy]

Got an oil change today. Talked to the owner of the shop - he is having a tough time getting car parts. He has a Jeep Grand Cherokee in the shop for the past 2 months waiting for a transmission part.

Yep, lots of guys on the performance car forums talking about their cars being in the shop waiting on parts (Some for months now).... Some guys actually got loaners cars but I'm not sure how long that will last. Of course when you get a used KIA in place of your brand new Hellcat or Vette, it still sucks.

 

[jollystomper]

Try Tirerack.com. If your local installer is agreeable (many are), Tirerack will ship the tires directly to them.

I damaged the sidewall on my car recently, and needed to have the tire cut down to match the wear of the others. Yes, it hurts to make a brand new tire 'worn' (and pay extra for the 'privilege'!), but I'm told the drive-train can be stressed by constantly adjusting for the different rotational speed. But Tirerack did that for me too, I just gave them the average tread depth of the other tires.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=259


-ERD50

Thanks for the info. I checked, my tire model is back ordered there as well (I would not be surprised if the service place had already checked there).

 

[brett]

My SIL tells me the some construction materials are had to come by.

In August I needed to replace a garage door. Went to three suppliers at that time. The first wanted full payment up front, delivery in November, and the price could increase. We passed. Second one said late Oct. delivery, firm price. Third, a small local guy said I will do my best. He used a local manufacturer. Delivered and installed in three weeks....on the day it was promised.

At the moment....our preferred brand of Jasmine rice is not available. Same with some other Asian product from Thailand and Vietnam that we typically buy.

Scads of paper products at our Costco yesterday.

 

[fruitful]

Lorna Doone cookies
Stax Chips - original flavor
Gatorade (distributor claims bottle shortage)
A tiny gear for 2002 corvette to lift/lower the headlight

 

[GalaxyBoy]

NPR did a piece on the glass container shortage.

https://www.npr.org/2021/10/12/1045...now-mean-a-shortage-of-glass-jars-and-bottles

… 20 to 30% of the bottles used in the U.S. are typically imported from Europe or Asia, so part of the problem is transportation. A lot of bottles may be stuck in the same cargo traffic jam that's holding up so many other imports. And because domestic glass plants are already running at full steam, customers whose imported bottles are delayed may have a hard time finding substitutes at the last minute.

Companies are also hoarding bottles like toilet paper. Wine, beer, liquor, pasta sauce, etc. are all impacted by this.

 

[RetMD21]

maybe not what folks are thinking of but we saw a shortage of truck parking spots on our 900+ mile drive on I 40/44. Truck stops, rest area etc were full up and drivers were using rural exit ramps as extra parking

 

[brett]

My neighbor has been waiting ten MONTHS for a replacement computer board on her very high end gas/electric Dacor stove. Her oven has been malfunctioning for 10 months.

 

[aleabo]

For me this is deja vu. First I saw it 1988-1992 in Soviet Union and what come after it.
Same symptoms, same events. It will go faster and faster + inflation will accelerate...Until you come to the point when nobody will take money for the product or service- will ask another product or service as a payment.
I noticed this (disappearance of products + increase in inflation) more than 6 months ago. Mentioned it on this forum in another thread. People laughed. Still laughing?

 

[Koolau]

Glorioski! Last night, Costco not only had TP (yeah, it was the Kirkland brand which DW hates) but they also had full frozen-treat freezers. ALL our favorite treats were there. We have no extra freezer space so we settled on a box of Aldens Organic Strawberry yogurt bars. Delicious and (reasonably) healthy. YMMV

 

[aja8888]

I don't understand the TP shortage as it must be regional. Around here, Costco, Walmart, etc all have tons of it.

 

[Koolau]

I don't understand the TP shortage as it must be regional. Around here, Costco, Walmart, etc all have tons of it.

Actually, we (in the Islands) depend upon receiving a steady stream of container ships for MOST of our consumer items. Based on that, any supply-chain disruption can cause instant shortages. I've been told that we have a 7 day supply of food in the Islands. Previous strikes, hurricanes, 9/11, etc., have caused dramatic shortages in hours to days. That may be what our local Costco has been experiencing. I don't actually know. I just notice that the "issue" of shortages has been much more dramatic of late.

It used to be that ONE or two items would be out of stock. This time, the whole freezer section was EMPTY of frozen treats and ice cream. Usually, Costco has SOME brand of TP (either Kirkland or Charmin.) This time, they were OUT. There was a one-bail-only sign on the recently-arrived Kirkland TP last night, so whatever is going on is going to be with us for a while longer, apparently. Yes, our supply chain is a bit more vulnerable but at least we've not had the container ships cueing up in the harbor. So there's that.:cool smiley: YMMV

 

[aja8888]

Actually, we (in the Islands) depend upon receiving a steady stream of container ships for MOST of our consumer items. Based on that, any supply-chain disruption can cause instant shortages. I've been told that we have a 7 day supply of food in the Islands. Previous strikes, hurricanes, 9/11, etc., have caused dramatic shortages in hours to days. That may be what our local Costco has been experiencing. I don't actually know. I just notice that the "issue" of shortages has been much more dramatic of late.

It used to be that ONE or two items would be out of stock. This time, the whole freezer section was EMPTY of frozen treats and ice cream. Usually, Costco has SOME brand of TP (either Kirkland or Charmin.) This time, they were OUT. There was a one-bail-only sign on the recently-arrived Kirkland TP last night, so whatever is going on is going to be with us for a while longer, apparently. Yes, our supply chain is a bit more vulnerable but at least we've not had the container ships cueing up in the harbor. So there's that.:cool smiley: YMMV

Understand the situation. Paradise is a tough pace to live sometimes.