Whether it’s utter devastation or expected disappointment, we have all reacted to supply chain shortages in our own ways.
But no matter how we choose to respond to the barrage of supply shortage messages, the heart of the matter is there is much more to the shipping delays and unavailable products at the stores than customers realize.
In the ideal scenario, the supply chain functions as a perfectly connected system of people, information, and resources working together to provide a product or service. It’s a complex chain with each link depending on the one prior to continue the progression of the product or service to the customer. When one of those links in the chain is delayed or disrupted, that’s when we all experience the domino effect of supply chain chaos.
Dairy.com’s Managing Director of Transportation Business Unit, Hill Pratt, spoke to the specific role milk hauling has played in the supply chain chaos story for an article, “Love Me Tenders: A supply chain story” in Prime Future, the newsletter for innovators in livestock, meat, and dairy.
Skyrocketing hauling rates, driver shortages, and even rising input costs for haulers such as equipment, fuel, and insurance contribute to an already delicate dairy supply chain. Shortfalls in the milk hauling industry could easily cause a bottleneck of milk in the supply chain leading to a capacity crunch at processing facilities.
Possible bottlenecks are not completely surprising as customers navigate through a post-pandemic dairy market. But it is definitely something they should be aware of for future purchases from the dairy aisle.
Read more on Hill Pratt’s perspective and how the milk hauling situation could affect the dairy industry in the full article by Janette Barnard, creator of the Prime Future newsletter.