A Little Rant About The Global Supply Chain

Today I'm taking a break from talking about a fantasy world to talk about our real one. I know it's a bit of a departure from the regular offerings of this blog, but I hope you will allow me this indulgence.

For those who don't know, my day job is being a logistics coordinator for a grain company. My job involves primarily handling the shipping of commercial amounts of grain to the USA, Canada, and some countries overseas. Every once in a while, I also manage imports into Canada. This by no means makes me an authority of logistics and supply chain, but it does mean I'm seeing a side of the industry many don't see/pay close attention to.

Every day I deal with trucking and ocean delays. These are not anyone's fault; rather, this is just the reality of a fragile and strained supply chain.

There aren't enough trucks.

There aren't enough drivers.

There aren't enough shipping containers.

There are tons of reasons for these problems (many self-created) that have all compounded on each other, many things out of the average worker's control. But, I don't want to talk about why the trucks are late; I want to talk about what this has done to people.

Recently I picked up this small ottoman (pictured above) from a furniture store. I saw an ad for it on Facebook and bought it because I thought it was too adorable not to buy. I got a call from the store saying that it wouldn't be ready for pick up until mid-February due to supply chain delays. "No worries," I assured the woman who called me, "I work in shipping and logistics; I get it."

So I got a call last weekend that my ottoman had arrived. Great! I go late one night to pick up.

I wasn't sure who to talk to at the store, so I went to customer service. The woman that ended up helping me that night and I got talking. She mentioned how people were often very angry with her because shipments were delayed (as if she could make the ships move faster). The furniture they wanted wasn't available, and they were upset.

It hit me that even as someone who works booking these containers and trucks, I'm at the mercy of the industry as a whole. Whether or not someone gets their product right now feels a lot more in the hands of fickle gods as opposed to anyone actually working in the industry. But, even if you want to blame logistics and supply chain workers for things being late, it is absolutely not the fault of the lovely woman who works in customer service at a furniture store.

This isn't the only time I've seen this.

I went to the bookstore about a week after the flooding in BC started. I was waiting in line to buy a new book, and the line was decently long, with only one checkout running. A woman who worked there apologized to me as they couldn't open the second till because the new plexiglass to protect the cashiers from Covid were delayed in BC. I told her I understood and worked in shipping and couldn't get anything I needed out of BC either. I watched her shoulders deflate like she'd been waiting for me to be mad at what was, in the grand scheme of things, not even a minor inconvenience at having to wait a little longer. But how often do you think this woman and her coworkers were getting shit for not being able to ring people up faster?

What I'm trying to say, and I'm not sure if this really comes across, is that if I have little control over what the ships or trucks are doing, think of the workers in stores and restaurants, even further removed from this industry. They can't make a sofa magically appear or just find lettuce in the back. They don't deserve abuse for something they have zero control over.

I know it can be frustrating, it's okay to feel frustrated. We've lived for so long in a world where it feels like everything is at our fingertips, only for two-day Prime shipping to become a week.

We have been conditioned to be impatient, but I implore you, don't take it out on the workers at these places. They are doing their best, just as I am doing my best. We're all working tirelessly to keep the supply chain moving, from the carriers themselves, to logistics coordinators, to the buyers, to the employees on the store floor. We are all trying to make this happen and get products to customers on time.

As humans upon planet earth going through unprecedented times, we're all in this together. We're a team. Let's recognize the hard work and the challenges we're all facing and be kind to each other. It's that simple.

This is a departure from my regular work, but I felt like I had to get this out. I promise next week I will have something super fun to make up for a little more of a less-fun post.

Stay safe and healthy. <3