SDA Reader Survey: Shortages in Canada (And The US) – Bumped

361 Replies to “SDA Reader Survey: Shortages in Canada (And The US) – Bumped”

1. In Salt Lake City, finding that Saltine Crackers are in short supply.

   Also my local coffee shop has a sign up that they are out of 24oz cups.

   1. Ha! The white crackahs in SLC are all out of crackers! It’s a Critical Race Theory success story!
      Hahahaha ha ha … I amuse my white self.

2. I am in Western Washington, USA. I have noticed the sections of cream cheese in the stores are quite low, and other dairy products seem to have waves of availability. We have quite a bit of agri industry here so not sure why the instability. I have also noticed bottled water/bottled drinks have been very low in the stores. This week when I went in, I was shocked at the lack of basic canned cat food.

   I don’t do much other shopping for home or work, so my observations are confined to food products at the time.

3. The company I work for was to release a new product last month. Now it’s probably going to be delayed at least a year because of chip shortage.

4. Toronto, ON: The new bicycle shortage has caused the used bike market to explode, which in turn has caused a huge increase in bike theft. Mine was stolen last October. I ordered a new one in January. 9 1/2 months later, I’m still waiting for it.

   Pizza Nova, a large pizza chain that sells pies and slices has been out of the single slice carry-out box for weeks.

5. Chicago IL
   Set out to replace our failing Samsung French Door refrigerator (Do Not Buy!) with some other make in white. Found exactly *one* at Grand Appliance, which was a really expensive model, but was in stock. Was advised that white models probably wouldn’t show up until late fourth quarter.
   Sam’s Club was out of bagged shredded romaine last week, and as of this week no longer had bagged bulk salad of any kind, although they still had salad kits with lettuce. Lots of Charmin toilet paper (limit 1), but no Northern.
   Local grocery store is spotty on soda supplies. Anything that isn’t one of the bulk movers is hard to find, so things that I drink such as Caffeine Free Diet Pepsi are usually not on the shelf at all. Open spots on shelves (not just soda, but any random item) are filled up with whatever they have that hasn’t sold to make the shelves look full. This is apparently chain policy for Kroger, as nearly as I can tell.

6. Here in Maryland, not far from DC, there seems to a severe shortage of IQ points for politicians.

7. New Haven County, Connecticut, USA
   Specific things I’ve shopped for or ordered lately:
   – Gatorade – very limited supplies
   – window glazier points (not in Lowes or Home Depot, but found them in a local hardware store 30 miles from me)
   – limited replacement glass
   – cabinets (12 weeks)
   – windows (6 weeks)
   – furniture (up to 9 months)

8. Grass seed. 50# bags of the stuff are 100% more expensive now than just 8 months ago. Northern IN, but this is a widespread thing from what my supplier is saying.

   1. This!!! Suddenly so expensive. I’m North the 49th and noticed the same.

9. Also, I’m in the middle of having our eaves done on our house. Constant delays while waiting for material, and weeks went by while the contractor had to wait for a component for his break that shapes the eaves. It was much the same with our shingling, in addition to the contractor (same company) having problems finding people to do the grunt work.

   I’m wondering if these contant supply and labour shortages will contribute to people waiting longer to sell their homes because they are having a difficult time renovating in order to get it into selling shape. I can see it explaining why lots of houses are being sold “unseen” or “as is” in my city of Sudbury lately.

10. Let’s Go Brandon.

    Let’s Go Justin.

11. Our Maytag front load washer stopped working about a month ago. Wouldn’t run at all and couldn’t drain itself. As the machine was over 15 years old, did some on line shopping for a new machine. Lots of sale items but no delivery for two months +. Brought in a locally recommended repairman. The pump on the machine was still working but the impeller had wore out it’s bearing. The repair guy had to search for a week to find a new pump and ended up begging, borrowing, stealing from another repair guy that just happened to carry one in his truck. No stock at the parts wholesalers in and around the Ottawa area and maybe with some luck you might be able to find one in Toronto the repairman said.

12. In the not necessary for life column- imported cheeses from Europe are in short supply. It’s hit and miss if you have a favorite variety. Poet Salut has been difficult to find- my favorite variety.

    At the Dollar General yesterday- the entire pet food aisle was empty. They’ve been getting vendor deliveries- but the driver shortage has affected them, they haven’t been restocked from DG in 3 weeks according to the employee I talked to.

    Every food store has empty shelves and areas- but it’s hit and miss- not all stores are missing the same things.

    1. Yeah buy flats of cat food 24 small tins for about $17.80 for last couple years. Last 2-3 months it’s jumped up to about 21.50. And the fuzzy bastards are still fussy about it. 🙂 Plus I used to buy from the same farm supply store a flat of 12 big cans of cat food and they simply haven’t been able to get those for about 8-9 months.

13. Went to Costco here in Wichita, Kansas. Filled up with diesel for $3.14. Bought a few items inside and didn’t notice any increase in the prices over the last year. Their shelves seemed full. Have notice in WalMart some shelves thinly stocked. Lots of stores have now hiring signs out and some are apologizing for shortages of staff.

14. Sorry to intrude in a Canadian Thread.
    Here in Dallas, TX, local officials are still pushing mask mandates which has led to a shortage of compliance. 🙂

15. Went to get a replacement breaker in Minneapolis in early October – luckily they had mine, but over a third of the shelf space in that section was bare and a good percentage of the shelves that weren’t bare had one box or two of product on the front and vast empty space behind.

16. Here in the UK the supermarket shelves are more thinly stocked than usual. We had fuel shortages last month due to a shortage of lorry drivers to deliver but that seems to have ironed itself out probably due to the fact that fuel has gone up by about 20p a litre. I don’t buy much stuff new but so far I haven’t had any problems ordering stuff like car parts, tools or DIY stuff.

17. I live 75 miles south of the Manitoba line in NW Minnesota. Car tires (needed badly but could not get the first several brands/models I wanted, settled for a lesser brand), lots of miscellaneous stuff at Wal Mart, from groceries to household items, garage doors (at Menards in Grand Forks).

18. Bet you covid “vaccines” and needles will be in plentiful supply. But what about other medical equipment and parts?

19. Safeway, Lower Mainland, BC

    “British” food section missing tons of products that are normally fully stocked. Also imported Asian food products down to just a handful of products.

    1. Here north of the GTA in Ontario, my girlfriend manages a “British Shop”. They have stopped carrying Tesco branded food items due to Brexit. Other suppliers of Scottish sweaters and pewter wear have nothing to send over…apparently there is a shortage of wool? Canadian distributors have no stock to send to the shop for the upcoming holiday shopping time. Items that they would normally send to her shop for Christmas sales are currently scheduled for February delivery.

20. Haven’t been able to find Medaglia d’Oro Italian coffee for about 6 months now.

21. Peterborough, Ontario
    Home Hardware ran out of asphalt shingles in my colour, and the delivery was late. Not a big deal, but I have never seen them run out before. Couldn’t get a prescription filled at Shoppers Drug Mart. A few other things. Grocery stores seem to be doing a lot of stocking one-deep, and some gaps on the shelves. A few nuisances and surprises, but nothing major yet. Meat is expensive!

22. I work with close to 100 trucking companies of all sizes. Here’s what I’m seeing:

    New semi tractor orders are being pushed out to first quarter 2023 with no pricing promised. This is due to the lack of parts availability.

    Used equipment prices are up 30% if you can find it.

    If your truck breaks down, rentals are not available and parts are usually 60 days out.

    Tire availability is way down and prices are up.

    Freight rates are up as much as 40% due to the shortage of drivers and equipment.

    Don’t even get me started about diesel prices.

    Brandon’s vaxx mandate will decimate the industry as over 30% of drivers are unvaccinated and don’t want to get vaccinated.

    This is all pointing to huge inflation issues along with increasing supply problems.

    #FJB
    #LGB

    1. I disagree with the rates going up. I own several trucks and I do flatbed only. Rates I have been getting for flatbed loads have been about the same. Or slight increase.

23. Spent most of the last 2 days trying to find a Miller engine driven welder for a client, 2 in stock in Canada. 1 in Naniamo and the other in Burlington. Customer unwilling to pay freight costs. I was told by one of the suppliers that not only is there a chip shortage, Kohler engines are in short supply, delaying production 12 weeks.

24. I haven’t been able to get Diet Coke with Splenda for about a year now. It disappeared from our local Ralphs (Kroger) so I was buying it from Amazon. Can’t get it there either.

    Side note: said Ralphs has now closed as has my local Payless shoe store.

    1. Forgot to mention – this is North Hollywood, CA.

    2. Our local Safeway suddenly stopped stocking Fresca. My wife and I are old Fresca fans (and Diet Coke too). Then … suddenly … there’s Fresca on the shelf. Then it’s gone again. Then … two bottles. Then … gone for months on end. They have Fresca maybe 5% of any year.

       The other thing about my local Safeway. If I don’t show up on DAY ONE of any SALE they are running? The product is SOLD OUT. I suspect part of that is because of all the filthy rich people in my locale who have huge walk-in pantries scoop up half the shelf.

25. In Massachusetts Wal Mart, La Choy canned Chinese food, specifically Chicken Chow Mein, is no longer found; a few weeks now.

    1. I’m in MA, I have a few cans stocked in my pantry that I purchased March 2020 for Covid, and now I’m saving for the next apocalypse, and it looks like it might be right around the corner. 😉

26. During October 2020 the ECU went out in my 2011 Buick. The dealer kept telling me a replacement ECU was coming. During January 2021 they told me they had no idea when they would receive an ECU, but if I could find one they would install it. No auto parts store would even take an order for one. I got lucky and found a used one on eBay that had been removed from a wrecked Buick.

27. A county surveyor advised me that the price of rip-rap has doubled. Rip-rap are rocks used to stabilize drainage ditch or creek banks. Rip-rap is not manufactured nor does it come over from China on container ships. Go figure.

    1. Need heavy equipment to load and deliver rip-rap.
       Need workers to do the job (more difficult to find).
       Need to keep that equipment in working condition (can’t find parts).
       Need working trucks to deliver (driver shortage, parts shortage).

       Everything’s connected. Everything’s falling apart.

28. 20+ cu ft chest freezers – 2 months ago you could order one with a 3-4 month wait time.
    Now they don’t even list them (online anyway)

29. I went to the Home Depot in Bozeman, Montana last Sunday to pick up a level. They usually have a large selection of different hammers, but they were down to 4 different hammers with 1-3 hammers per selection.

30. Just had our HVAC upgraded to a heat pump with split units. The contractor said this is the last one he’s installing for a while because 80% of units are manufactured in Far East and the supply chain is frozen. Notes he has four contracts to fulfill and he’ll probably lose money on each one as by the time new units become available, they’ll be 25-40% more expensive.

    1. I just installed a conventional Nat. Gas. Furnace (Carrier) … and AC Condenser (Carrier). Zero wait time. My HVAC Sub showed up two days after we signed the contract with the equipment. I assume they’re made in Mexico … and … well … EVERYTHING comes across THAT Border.

       1. Good thing…my 26 year old furnace is acting up and planned obsolescence means probably no parts at the best of times so I’ll be needing a new one. Hoping it’ll hang on until the Christmas bonus comes in. I’m thinking I should grab a few space heaters just in case.

31. Needed a washer for a rental house. In stock. Needed a fuel pump for a 1999 chev pickup. 1 day away. Needed about 80 misc oil filters for various equipment around the farm. All in stock but 4 oddballs. Plastic packing material for produce up 30% year over year, and lead time lengthened from 4 weeks (normal) to 8 weeks. So, in rural southern Alberta, not much of a problem,

    H

32. I and my weremate are retiring and moving (duh) to the free state of Florida. We ordered our his ‘n’ hers comfy chairs back in July, and were given a rough ETA of mid-October 2021. Due to a serious shortage of foam rubber, of all things, that estimate has been moved to … March 2022. And might move up further. Just one story among many….

33. Northern Virginia. Noted empty shelves in Toy Departments and in Soft Drinks. In the drink aisle, ‘specialty’ beverages (generally iced teas) haven’t been seen for weeks. Even the stocks of major sodas are notably lower than the usual.

    Obsevations based on two separate Walmarts and three individual grocery stores . . .

    Additionally, the local ALDI was almost completely sold out of the weekly ‘finds’ by mid-day Wednesday. They only go on sale at opening on Wednesdays. …

34. Paid a deposit in March for a September delivery of a hot tub (normally a ridiculous time to wait). September came and went as did October and now we are told it could be here by the end of November but more likely to be December. Supplier had trouble getting chips for the controls, spray foam for insulation and the big one is being limited on the acrylic they can get from their supplier. Apparently there’s money in supplying acrylic for ppe and clear barriers so they ration the acrylic they send to hot tub manufacturers. Waiting in Saskatoon.

35. McMaster Carr out of a number of sizes of industrial felt with no real guesses as to how long they’ll take to get back i.s.

36. Seattle area – yes, random things at the grocery store, but not a big deal (yet). Any kind of decent bicycles are very hard to find and new bicycle orders are saying 2023 or worse ! And many important bicycle parts are not available either.

    However I just got 2 new tires for my 2015 truck and 4 new tires for my 2006 car without issue. also picked up a bunch of suspension rebuild parts and aftermarket upgrades for my 2006 car but presumably those were sitting in old stock. I was also able to buy the oil and filters I need for the next 6 months as well, although the counter guy warned they are running out of both. I also bought fancy wheels for this car, I waited 6 months for them to show up in stock and then ordered them as soon as they were available. These wheels aren’t that unusual normally they are always available from multiple sellers.

37. Aluminum Foil

    Local Aldi’s, Connecticut.

38. There are lots of blank spaces in the shelves in local supermarkets in Burlington, VT, but I haven’t run into anything I couldn’t get. But don’t try to buy an outboard engine or a snowmobile or a car transport trailer, to name three things I have given up on this year. Kelly Blue Book says my lease return is worth five or six thousand dollars more “trade in value” than the buy-out option costs, so I will be buying and then selling it.

    Was at the music store looking for a new keyboard, they only had two brand new, and this was a large store that normally would have a dozen or more on display.

    I bought some spices and they seemed really expensive to me, and the thanksgiving types seemed mostly sold out.

    Worst of all, my Moxie connection didn’t have any, and had no idea of when it would show up.

39. Checking in from southern Connecticut: cat and dog food has been hard to find for the past two months. The brand of kitty litter that my Feline Americans prefer went missing right after the two-weeks-to-flatten-the-curve lie of 2020; I started ordering it online (from Chewy), and have been pleased with both their prices and their service.
    Gasoline: about $3.59 per gallon regular, so not as bad as California, but way up from $2.29 a year ago.
    Other shortages: toilet paper, paper towels, cleaning supplies (including chlorine bleach, go figure), some brands of frozen foods, some brands of plant-based milk, some brands of cheese and luncheon meats. Fruits and veggies in good supply, though, and plenty of bread, pasta, canned soups, fish, and chicken.

    1. Here in Salem, OR, cat food and litter are also in short supply. Kibble we can get; wet food is difficult. Have been shuffling between pouches and cans, whichever we can find. Happily, the crepuscular critters don’t seem to care what it is, so long as it smells good.

       Costco (!!!) was out of TP again last week. We are OK — for a bit. Meat prices, as everyone has been mentioning, are way up. I subscribe to a local collective that sends me 10 lb. of meat (varies; mostly lamb) once a month. So far their prices haven’t changed, though everyone else’s have.

       There is a bookshelf I have been thinking of ordering from a particular company for close to a year. Every time I check, the expected delivery date has been moved back another month or two.

40. In urban Vancouver, I have also experienced shortages/delays in acquiring “things”, like a new washer/dryer, in the summer, but suspect it would be much worse now, as my local food store had reduced products of many kinds. As well, we must have huge transportation issues, as all of my purchased milk and cheese goes off/sour before the best before date.

    What has also gone hugely “down the tube” also are services!!!!! Try most call centres and one is on hold for HOURS! Try booking an appointment with any professional or trades person – a month out or much more. Try booking an an appointment with your dog groomer – again more than a month. Non-Covid Health care – ditto. oh, and about those “convenient delivery services”?; they do not work very well, as one spends hours trying to trace missing parcels that were supposedly “delivered”.

    On another note, but related, the lies from Stats Canada are beyond belief! I have no idea what they put in their fake “consumer index” and inflation stats, but it is so blatantly false that it is no wonder why we can not trust any officials at all levels of government.

    1. “Try most call centres and one is on hold for HOURS!”

       Good point. Was on hold with Champion Generators help department for 65 minutes 2 weeks ago. They talked to me for about 5 minutes, directed me to try something, said they’d be back in 3-5 minutes before putting me on hold, 45 minutes later I hung up.

       1. Had the same problem with Presidents Choice MasterCard call centre last week. Called Tuesday and hung up after two hours. Called the next day and someone picked up two hours and twelve minutes in. Guess I should have waited an extra 15 minutes the first time.

41. Moved out of the city in the spring. Wanted to finally buy that kevlar prospector canoe I’ve been thinking about for 3 decades. February order delivery delayed until Victoria day weekend. A month later the wait was until August.
    Ordered a Trek bike a few weeks earlier, they told me mid June delivery, arrived late August

42. I live in Houston, Texas. I work on a food truck. We’ve had trouble getting several items from our suppliers [Sysco and others], including hot fudge, plastic cups and lids, certain sizes of Styrofoam bowls, strawberries, and others. Some things we’ve been able to substitute, like a sweeter hot fudge, but we got to the point of ordering a few things from amazon, paying much higher prices.

43. Kansas, about 60 km west of KC and 30 km east of our shopping town (pop 100,000).

    * Certain belts for farm equipment; certain spare parts for my John Deere tractor. Diesel fuel winter additive.

    * Popular shoe sizes; canvas work pants; long-tail T-shirts; lisopropyl alcohol.

    * Popular cuts of beef; canned pinto beans, canned tomatoes, occasionally milk; greasy snacks — I don’t buy them, but noticeably scarce.

44. Saint John NB.

    Home despot.

    Shortages of most things electrical. Conduit in all sizes, all panels except ‘spa’ panels. (But they were shipped without grounding bar)

    Ordering any teck 90 is not only expensive, but most 2-3C/8-00 cables are unavailable in anything 100M+ except orders delivered from Toronto.

    Scrap metal yards are low on inventory,
    Oil+filters at Walmart are low/missing.

    Lots of different kinds of canned soup are low/sold out.

    Cheapest food items (12Pac Mr. Noodles, 12@2.99) are consistently sold out. Seasonal lights +Candy Sold/low Inventory..

    Basic cuts of meat (beef and chicken) have gone up significantly…

    Hot dogs and buns (12 of each could be had for 3$) but now cost 8$+ ….

    Used and new truck prices doubled…

45. Tried to buy a set of fireplace doors – my size is backordered. I specifically bought a set “Made in the USA”, but it seems the parts, or at least some of them, come from China (no real surprise). The manufacturer says they don’t know when they will have the item back in stock.

    My wife tells me certain items are in short supply at the grocery store, beans & pasta for instance, and prices are up sharply.

46. Look close at some store shelves……. Cleaning products for one. The shelves are full but selection and variety are way less than normal. Save on foods Saskatoon.

    Also, notice in canned goods and boxed goods….. appear to be stocked yet often are only one product deep. Empty behind. Lets not get into $$$.

    Also agree with above. Cannot find furniture at all.

    One other comment above I agree with. China is fighting WW3 and we don’t realize it yet.

47. In Houston, there’s a lot that can come in by port, so we’re only seeing a few empty spots in the shelves. Probably helps that I think that in one or two of the nearby stores the re-bid process happened recently (suppliers bid for shelf space in supermarkets – obviously shelf space they’re paying for that they can’t fill isn’t a great deal, so there’s some incentive on that side, too).
    That said, commodities, like lumber, pipe, and structural steel are not going to be as available – and certainly not at 2020 prices.

48. South Jersey, USA

    Not seeing any Dark Chocolate Hershey Kisses in the stores of late. I need my daily fix of DC and if I don’t get it it makes me very angry. 🙂

    1. Y’all better not start hoarding the coffee…

49. “I’m afraid we’re going to have a food crisis…To produce a ton of ammonia last summer was $110. And now it’s $1,000. So it’s just incredible.” –Svein Tore Holsether, Yara CEO

50. Biden’s energy secretary is so stupid she doesn’t realize there is oil in the US.
    https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/biden-energy-sec-granholm-laughs-boosting-oil-hilarious