The workers who keep global supply chains moving are warning of a 'system collapse'

CNN ^ | 29 September 2021 | Hanna Ziady, CNN Business

[blueplum]

London (CNN Business)Seafarers, truck drivers and airline workers have endured quarantines, travel restrictions and complex Covid-19 vaccination and testing requirements to keep stretched supply chains moving during the pandemic.

But many are now reaching their breaking point, posing yet another threat to the badly tangled network of ports, container vessels and trucking companies that moves goods around the world.

In an open letter Wednesday to heads of state attending the United Nations General Assembly, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and other industry groups warned of a "global transport system collapse" if governments do not restore freedom of movement to transport workers and give them priority to receive vaccines ...

Inconsistent requirements mean that some seafarers have been vaccinated multiple times because some countries have approved only certain vaccines...Meanwhile, the unequal distribution of vaccines globally means that only about 25% to 30% of seafarers, many of who are from India and the Philippines, are fully vaccinated...

[Wuli]

and this

https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/talent-acquisition/pages/how-trucking-companies-are-responding-to-a-critical-driver-shortage.aspx

50% of trucking companies have trouble finding enough workers, which leaves trucks sitting and delivery orders not taken if they can’t be filled due to lack of a driver

[Alberta's Child]

This might be the first signs of a serious pushback by the trucking industry against their customers.

Many of these customers treat their third-party carriers and those drivers like crap. It doesn't surprise me that trucking rates are going through the roof, and many of these shippers are having a hard time getting their loads picked up.