In the meantime, the supply chain’s troubles are almost all government-inflicted. Beginning in late September, images of loaded container ships at anchor off the Pacific coast began flashing across the news. The official “supply chain crisis” was launched, even though it had been going on since early 2020. When (government imposed) COVID measures first took effect in 2020, port activity slowed down. Truckers and port workers with nothing to do found something else to do. When things began to pick up again, many of them didn’t come back. Reduced capacity gradually caused a backlog gradually: in November 2020, there was a backlog of a dozen vessels. It climbed to over 30 ships in January 2021. This week, on November 23, 2021, Shipping Watch reported a backlog of 79 container ships.

The biggest problem is a shortage of trucks to carry away the freight once unloaded. The causes are legion, but it’s worth noting that the government of California has made life particularly hard for truckers of late. Pro-union legislation passed two years ago contained text banning owner-operators. It was challenged, but it’s still working its way through the courts. And the initial stages of California’s commitment to switch to all electric trucks by 2045 meant that the California DMV has been refusing registration to thousands of trucks. The legal uncertainty, the expense of upgrading equipment and the slowdown early in the pandemic meant many truckers got out of the business entirely.