Yes, We Really Could Have A Major Toilet Paper Crisis Soon

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The early days of the Covid-19 Pandemic saw toilet paper in short supply. And it may soon be happening again thanks to a lot of reasons, the latest a giant grounded container ship making a TP supply problem much worse. We found out about the TP problem because of a problem halfway across the world. Literally.

At the Suez Canal, one of the biggest container ships ever in the history of dangerously large container ships looked like it was trying to slide into the canal much like you and I might whip a donut in a snowy parking lot. But it got landlocked.

And the ship is so huge (as long as a skyscraper is tall) and so heavy, it could take weeks to get it unstuck. And that means other container ships can't get thru the canal, some of them are filled with stuff, but a LOT of  them are empty, trying to get back to fill up and make the round trip.

About 50 ships usually pass through the Suez Canal every day, but they have been blocked since the Taiwanese-registered Ever Given ran aground.  (NYPOST)

According to Bloomberg, that means an already short supply of containers and container ships to transport the wood pulp needed to make toilet paper, is now even worse. You might say the ship stuck in the canal has really brought the pucker level to 11.

Why is it so hard to find a way to ship products? The pandemic has caused shipping bottleneck after shipping bottleneck.

How long before store shelves in Rochester, Minnesota are empty? It's anyone's guess how long it'll take them to reroute all those shipments. We'll keep you updated.

As always, if you have a comment, complaint, or concern about something I wrote here, please let me know: james.rabe@townsquaremedia.com

Listen to James Rabe Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 11-Noon on KROC AM 1340 and 96.9 FM and Weekdays with Jessica Williams Weekday from 6 - 10 AM on Y-105 FM

Let's get off the topic of toilet paper and think about relaxing...