Prices Of Goods Are Going Up Due To Lack Of Truck Drivers
The economy is a delicate balance, and the price of everything is going up because there’s currently a massive shortage of truck drivers.
By DAVID on May 22, 2018
The economy is a very delicate balance of a lot of different things. This thing relies on that thing which relies on something else. Everything has to be just right, or prices and jobs start getting messed up. That includes the prices we pay for things at the store. Everything we buy was either on a train or a truck at some point, at least in part. There’s currently a lack of truck drivers, so it’s hard to deliver goods recently. That means things are getting more expensive to ship, and we’re paying the difference in the store.
I don’t want to say a “lack of truck drivers,” because that sort of implies they’re leaving the industry. Really what it comes down to is that the economy is doing well. When the economy does well, people buy more things. When people buy more things, things need to be produced and shipped faster. For argument’s sake, we may have the same number of drivers now as we had 10 years ago, but there are more things to move now. Joyce Brenny is CEO of a trucking company. SHe’s already given her drivers a 15% raise to keep them at her company rather than going somewhere else, and expects to have to give another 10% more by the end of this year. The job is paying, on average for her company anyway, about $80k per year.
See also: Truck drivers banded together to save a person from jumping off a bridge.
We’re already seeing higher prices on things, too. Amazon Prime just hiked their membership prices. A lot of that has to do with all the “free” shipping they’re having to do for so many members. Farmers are experiencing a higher cost of getting their products to store shelves, and that’s causing the prices to go up in the grocery store. Diesel fuel prices (and other fuel) is going up. Experts are saying that about 10 cents on every dollar we spend is due to shipping and handling costs. If that has to go up more, the value of our dollar will start going down more. Delicate balance. There’s a lot more on the topic here, and many more factors that come into play. It’s really interesting to read and learn about.
