Whether it's semiconductors, groceries, or bicycle parts, it seems like everything is in short supply these days. The various knock-on effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have interrupted manufacturing, constrained logistics, and upended well-established supply chains. No industry has been immune. And, this has led to protracted wait times for all kinds of goods that people used to assume would always be available instantly on demand.
Back at the start of the pandemic's spread in early 2020, a survey conducted by the Institute for Supply Management found that close to 75% of its respondents were already seeing serious COVID-related disruptions in transportation. More than one year in, as new viral variants emerge and public health hot spots flare up around the world, those disruptions are still lingering in one form or another.