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 Even as various state governments have rescinded pandemic unemployment benefits, there are still more than nine million workers with continuing pandemic claims.”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.”