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“Just Get Me a Box”: Inside the Brutal Realities of Supply Chain Hell
Article

“Just Get Me a Box”: Inside the Brutal Realities of Supply Chain Hell

Logistics managers are battling the pandemic, a labor shortage, and huge demand to get goods to your front door.



Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Analytical
  • Eye Opening
  • Concrete Examples

Recommendation

Reports about supply shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic no longer dominate the headlines, but long delivery delays and soaring shipping costs continue to burden US companies. Writing for Bloomberg Businessweek, Brendan Murray explains the situation through the eyes of an Illinois plumbing supply company logistics manager, RoxAnne Thomas, who’s had to become inventive to keep supplies coming. Murray’s eye-opening piece offers the big picture as well as a glimpse of the human efforts behind complex transactions that consumers often experience as nothing more than a mouse click. 

Take-Aways

  • The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the global supply chain.
  • Freight costs on overseas shipping containers increased more than 12-fold in 2021.
  • Delays in overland shipping cause logjams at major US shipping ports.

About the Author

Brendan Murray is a reporter and editor at Bloomberg Businessweek.


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