While freight lines can usually handle weather delays, and recipients plan for them, the ongoing labor shortage makes preparing for snowstorms a little different.
DENVER — As Colorado gears up for yet another snowfall, it may spell delays for some companies waiting on deliveries, as the already-strained supply chain system is potentially exacerbated by the weather.
“It’s going to generally slow down traffic, is going to cause delays, sometimes closures. In many cases, we have to take detours, all of that which affects our customers and meeting what the public needs,” said Greg Fulton, the President of the Colorado Motor Carriers Association.
While freight lines usually handle delays due to weather, and recipients of the deliveries, like grocery stores, plan for any delays, the ongoing labor shortage (in part, stemming from the pandemic) makes preparing for snowstorms a little different, Fulton said.
“We’re allowed so many hours every day for that drive, and then at that point they must shut down and take a 10-hour rest period. Now, we support that. The problem is, they may not be able to complete that route, and it has a ripple effect. In many cases in the past, we had some additional drivers for things that we could fill in. Those really aren’t there today,” he said.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers is projected to grow 6% from 2020 to 2030, which the bureau said is about as fast as the average for all occupations.
Nationwide, there are around 231,000 openings for those positions each year, on average, over the decade.
“Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire,” the report reads.
Fulton said he believes truck drivers do their best to get deliveries completed, especially when there are essential medical supplies, food and more that need to be delivered.
He said what adds to the challenge is there are fewer snowplow drivers on the roads as well.
“And so in some cases, some of those highways and some roadways aren’t cleared as often. So we may have a clear highway after it’s been there, but then we’ve got to get off that road to get to our customer or business. And in some cases, that access is going to be more challenging because we don’t have as many people being able to get out there and plow those areas into city and state levels (as) in the past,” he said.
At Marczyk’s Fine Foods, which has a few locations throughout Denver, co-founder and president Pete Marczyk said generally speaking, they’ve been able to keep up with supply, for the most part, during the pandemic.
But when a snowstorm hits, they do feel the impacts because of a list of other issues impacting the industry.
“When we get hit with a snowstorm and we add on all the other things going on, whether it’s COVID or people getting sick or labor troubles, the snowstorm doesn’t help, right? I mean, it’s going to put us back 24 hours and then it just ripple effects for the next week or so. But we get through it,” he said. “It’s a challenge, though. You know, there’s just a new thing every day these days, whether it’s a vendor not able to deliver, or chicken plants don’t have processors to get the chickens harvested or whatever. There’s just so many things that are affecting us.”
Most of their items, he said, peak seasonally, especially for locally-grown produce.
“Right now, obviously, we’re buying from out of state. And any transportation disruption affects us. We’re not immune to it. But it’s been a pretty steady supply,” he said.
Overall, he said, it’s all about simplifying the product that’s being sold.
“If they cancel the delivery, it’s a whole week. We have to wait a week. However, most of our vendors, you know, we’re Coloradans, right? We deal with this stuff. We’re OK with the weather,” he said.
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