I'm in the auto body business and I was chatting last night with my cousin who is a current machinist and buys and sells a lot of variety of machining products from abroad by the shipping container. We were chatting over beer with a few of his friends. In our conversation I mentioned the supply chain issues we were seeing. Had not been able to find a Toyota Tundra door in over 5 months. Had to pay $1500 for Sequoia a used door (OEM was $775), swap the power units etc plus throw 10 hours of labor ($70 per hour) to repair the damage door to make it usable. Something we discouraged but the customer desperately needed their truck back at the ranch. Others, We get a Right Rear door on order, box says right rear and we open it and it's the Right Front. Send it back and the next one is the same way. It's not just one manufacturer, they are all doing it. It's an absolute train wreck. Vehicles that should be in and out within 2 weeks are now sitting waiting for 2+ months and everyone is in dismay they are without their vehicle for so long.
Cousin chimes in, Shipping containers of product for the last 5 years has been costing him on average $15-18k. Last few weeks he's been getting called and asked if he is going to order anything. Currently $1000 per shipping container of product!
Another guy chimes in and said they just finished signing a contact for their fleet of semis (large transportation co) and their fuel supplier refused to bend at the first offer of $8 per gallon! Last year it was $4 and that was a lot. They are speculating fuel is going to be astronomical very soon.
My cousin and two others that run machine shops said their steel distributors that would not give them the time of day unless they placed a large order, are now calling 2-3 times a week begging for orders of any size. Stuff is cheap and readily available. Machines that normally go quick at sales are just sitting there unsold. My cousin has had one of his best years ever though.
All I'm saying is that this talk of the UTV market going soft, guys cancelling snow checks thinking next year to order will be better. ... It's not going to get better, manufacturing is already feeling the effect. Next year is only going to be worse. Have your head on a swivel and get your finances in order. There is certainly going to be something big coming.
Cousin chimes in, Shipping containers of product for the last 5 years has been costing him on average $15-18k. Last few weeks he's been getting called and asked if he is going to order anything. Currently $1000 per shipping container of product!
Another guy chimes in and said they just finished signing a contact for their fleet of semis (large transportation co) and their fuel supplier refused to bend at the first offer of $8 per gallon! Last year it was $4 and that was a lot. They are speculating fuel is going to be astronomical very soon.
My cousin and two others that run machine shops said their steel distributors that would not give them the time of day unless they placed a large order, are now calling 2-3 times a week begging for orders of any size. Stuff is cheap and readily available. Machines that normally go quick at sales are just sitting there unsold. My cousin has had one of his best years ever though.
All I'm saying is that this talk of the UTV market going soft, guys cancelling snow checks thinking next year to order will be better. ... It's not going to get better, manufacturing is already feeling the effect. Next year is only going to be worse. Have your head on a swivel and get your finances in order. There is certainly going to be something big coming.