News
TCI: Truck Driver shortage in US sending prices sky high on TCI Grocery & Goods
#TurksandCaicos, August 27, 2021 – So what does the truck driver shortage in the United States have to do with the cost of bread on your grocery store shelves or items you may order from Amazon or that piece of plywood you need for construction? Everything!
There is a scramble to find truckers and the unprecedented shortage has led to a surge in charges for shipping, a rush to bring more people to the profession; that push started months ago… and increasingly, prices of goods and supplies are increasing.
TIME magazine explained that there are actually deep negotiations as freight forwarders are bidding for space on supply boats and trucks. At a time when earnings are still on the rebound, it appears everything you want and need is noticeably more expensive.
It is particularly painful in countries like Turks and Caicos where the majority of consumer goods are imported. We asked a few grocery stores and hardware stores to tell us about the changes in the cost of materials and Sunny Foods replied.
Sanjay “Sunny” Gopaldas, says there are supply issues, challenges with product availability, higher demand and freight costs, he said, have doubled. And it is not an increase on our side when it comes to a freight price surge, it is on the supply side.
With two stores in Providenciales and two in Grand Turk, this veteran grocer has many shelves to stock and trying to keep prices competitive ain’t easy. Trucking costs “are over the roof, as suppliers cannot find drivers. No one wants to work.”
The reason appears to be those sweet stimulus cheques being distributed by the Biden Administration. Supply Chain Quarterly, a global supply chain publication featuring cutting edge ideas and updates informed that driver scarcity will continue to impact trucking costs.
A report on August 9 said: “Additional stimulus checks and unemployment benefits continue to keep drivers off the road. Even as various state governments have rescinded pandemic unemployment benefits, there are still more than nine million workers with continuing pandemic claims.”
Super-charged salaries and alluring incentives are at work to get drivers off the sidelines, but it is not working quickly enough. The marketplace is also experiencing supply chain uncertainty because the pandemic continues with swerves and curves related to infection rates, vaccination rates, death rates and regulations which impact consumer spending. It is causing inflationary rates and “these factors will continue to burden consumers for months to come,” said Supply Chain Quarterly.
Add to this, the fact that the cost to do business has increased due in part to mandated public health measures.
In the meantime, prices on goods and supplies will continue to be higher than the usual. Though he was not speaking on behalf of the TCI retail and wholesale industry, Sunny told us that it is hoped “things will get better by the end of the year and that is dependent upon whether Covid-19 is under control.”
Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, April 19, 2024 – In an attempt to move to 24-hour-a-day operations Turks and Caicos Islands Airports Authority (TCIAA) is steadily recruiting Air Traffic Controllers to work at the Providenciales/Howard Hamilton International Airport, according to Godfrey Smith, TCIAA CEO, reporting to the Appropriations Committee.
Speaking on April 8th Smith said a cabinet paper would be sent soon requesting six more Air Traffic Controllers to make round the clock operation at the Provo International possible and to open the airport in Grand Turk till 12 a.m.
Currently, 17 posts are filled and seven are vacant.
Smith was candid with his responses to recent industrial action from ATCs which led to resignations and firings.
“What we have to do is find systems to mitigate such actions and that has to start with filling these jobs, putting people in that want to
work and doing right by people – and we always try to do right by our staff. Persons may not think that we are but we always do – we ain’t pick no fight,” he said in the meetings held at the NJS Francis building ahead of the National Budget Communication.
Smith indicated that recruitment was an issue across the board, ‘we need to find ways to recruit a little bit better’ he told the committee. Also in need of a push was capital spending or projects according to the CEO, who said the agency had ‘not been very good’ at meeting that mark but insisted they had recognized the issue and could do better.
A very important key performance indicator drawn up by the TCIAA is increasing passenger satisfaction at the Howard Hamilton International Airport. For the TCIAA part of this means a 30 percent increase in seating by Q2 of this year.
When queried on if they could even handle this increase the CEO said,
“The fact of the matter is we already have the capacity there. What we need is to make the service a bit better.”
Staff shortages have become such a frustrating issue that the TCIAA is instituting a scholarship program created by Authority Chairman, Selvyn Hawkins
“What the board wants to do is basically allocate $25,000 annually for a scholarship and they’ve approved it already.”
This process would cover tuition and all other costs for one student.
The student would return as a summer intern and other breaks to work at the TCIAA and upon graduation, assume a role at the company.
“We identify a particular skill we need, we go after it and we build capacity that is in a nutshell the nexus of the program,” Smith said.
The Turks and Caicos Islands Airports Authority (TCIAA) is allocated $49 million this financial year; over $20 million goes to salaries.
Company delivers fastest speeds nationwide and boosts service reliability
PROVIDENCIALES, TURKS AND CAICOS, APRIL 19th, 2024 – More connections, faster speeds and greater support for customers. This is the promise from communications and entertainment provider, Flow TCI, as it embarks on an initiative to provide households with enhanced connections, greater overall reliability and now, for the first time, speeds up to one gigabit person second.
FLOW TCI Country Manager, Joanne Missick shared: “Our customers are at the heart of everything we do. We listen to our customers and want to exceed their demands, so we are focused on delivering unmatched value with customer centric products and services that are future proof. Flow subscribers on our Fibre Extreme package can now access up to one gigabyte speeds and subscribers on our Fibre Plus and Fibre Max package, as of April 1st, are also now benefitting from up to 5x more speeds.”
This is third speed boost for Flow customers in the last two years. This comes under the umbrella of the the Company’s recently launched “Working for You” campaign, where technicians are going into the neighborhoods across the island to conduct repairs, decommission copper cables, and increase the brand’s visibility in local communities.
“To date several neighborhoods have been served by technicians and the company will continue to go across the islands to ensure each neighborhood receives personal attention. We recognize that over the past few months some customers have experienced issues with the quality and delivery of our services. This is not what we stand for. Flow remains committed to providing technology and innovation
that enables growth and positively impacts lives”, says, newly appointed Head of Technical Operations, Simeon Thomas.
Thomas adds, “We have been closely monitoring and reviewing every aspect of our network and there is room for improvement across each of the islands. Where we find shortcomings, we are taking concrete actions and assigning our technicians to rapidly make all necessary adjustments and improvements for our customers”.
Flow has made significant investments in expanding and modernizing its infrastructure and delivering a more robust and reliable network paving the way for the country’s digital transformation.
For more information on speed increases visit https://www2.discoverflow.co/turks-and-caicos/price-adjustment-speed-increase on our website.
Thank you for your usual assistance in sharing our stories.
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