https://www.reddit.com/r/Shortages/comments/ps8vsn/potential_u_joint_shortage_an_addition_to_the/
I've been paying particularly close attention to shortages along these lines. The chips and special parts going into our logistics system are at the root of making everything it transports possible. We don't even have the fancy AI trucks yet and yet the US runs on a network of semis and fleet trucks that are rapidly running out of replacement parts. The breakdowns in repair/production capacity are so scattershot that there's no telling what the transport delay will impact next. Those chips compete for production space with every other kind of vehicular computer system, let alone other kinds of chips a micorprocessor plant could retool to make.
This post brought to you by Train Gang - More boxes on fewer vehicles needing fewer parts
"Train Gang Train Gang"
- Train Gang
Investor: "These redundancies really seem inefficient, you know?"
Logistics: "They seem that way when everything is running great, but when things go bad we very well might need them."
Investor: "What could ever go wrong in modern society?"
Logistics: "I could think of a few things, but it's the things I can't think about that scare me. Having redundancies soften whatever blow we might get hit with."
Investor: "You are just a worry wart. I axed all the redundancies, and now I'm making even more money!"
(sometime later after supply line disruptions)
Investor: "This is all the Marxist's fault. We need to stop with the government 'handouts' to workers, so I can get that money and force them back to work!"
Marxism is Cancer
It is also impossible to get unemployment
:michael-laugh:
Hate to sound like a Luddite, but how much of these computer chips actually go to making the car more efficient or safer? It feels like we’re stuffing luxury features into even basic vehicles and making them that much harder to do maintenance on
There are a lot of sensors that can detect potential issues like the ones responsible for the infamous "check engine light" and other things like tire sensors which make you less likely to have a tire burst that results in a wreck.
They also monitor a lot more technical stuff like the crank to make sure that things aren't out of sync etc.
hate to sound like a Luddite
Why? The luddites were correct and unironically did nothing wrong (except lose)
They were certainly wrong to think that an artisan class could be sustained under capitalism, and we couldn’t have achieved the development of productive forces needed to build high-stage capitalism or socialism without their failure
Definitely, and you can’t really fault them for trying to fight for their class interest
Well... I mean... that's capitalism. Add useless shit that will break down so you need to buy more shit more often. It's like that by design.
Disregarding on whether you can even start the car without some fancy chips, especially for the now all too common big ass SUVs and such those sensors are pretty critical to function because they'd just flip on the first turn otherwise without readjusting the suspension on the fly.
Some of the stuff i work on have automatic fire extinguishers and about a dozen sensors to make sure the machines hydraulic brakes and gearbox dont fuck up. On modern cars, theres stuff to gauge the fuel levels, the brakes, temperature, timing, etc.
Technically, you can implement versions the core features with analog/mechanical solutions, though they won't work as well and will require more parts. Most importantly, modern cars have been designed with the expectation of central control by a chip, so manufacturers would need to do a complete redesign + test for an old-school analog car that also passes modern safety and emissions standards.
If capitalism is a ship this is the part where the rivets are popping off like champagne corks one by one.
I currently work at a plant that manufactures redacted and we don't have enough bolt kits to send out all the product we can push, and no one in management is giving us a straight answer on when they will be available. Given that we are already behind on orders from last year in spite of running at full capacity through the pandemic, and doing most of our own fab work, this does not bode well for the future. They are betting on it being solved, because they are already laying down expansion plans, but who knows if that will actually happen.
The shop i work at was already the kind to gerryrig any piece of equipment that came in, the fact that we can't even order some of the crucial parts for equipment means everything has slowed down in the region.
We couldn’t find a new aftermarket radiator for our 1-ton anywhere. We may have been able to source it from the dealer for a small fortune, but we ended up patching it up and hoping for the best instead.
In bad country, people have had to resort to improvised repairs to their vehicles for years on end
In bad country they have no car dealerships and they would not have cars if their people weren't really good at making mechanical fixes with scrap materials
Could be backups on international shipping maybe? It'd be nice if there were some trade publications or some secondary source though.
I would bet it is partially this, ports are backed up all over the country. But more than likely it is cascading combination of factors.
I know the ports in Seattle and Los Angeles are backed up. If Vancouver is the same or you're drawing those parts from NAFTA, probably.
I also don't know specifically about Vancouver but I would expect an identical situation since this is about global supply chains and logistics, particularly container space.
Yep. Car lots are empty and my shop hasnt been able to work on any mining equipment since august.
Sounds like we should collectively buy up tons of car parts and wait for them to become even more scarce and then sell them for a profit :capitalist-laugh:
The CDL will be valuable and I see lots of companies paying for it. Owner-operators are fucked but if you have a backup plan there's no personal cost to destroying someone else's trucks.
