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Hi there! Welcome to this week’s Supply Chain Radar…

… where we talk about the problems facing the American Rail Industry, science fiction supply chains of the future, and employee burnout leading to quiet quitting. But before all that, Happy Trucker Appreciation Week to all!

Now, onto the neeeewwwwssss!!

• Striking While the Iron is Hot
• Getting Some Serious Sci-Fi Vibes Here
• Just Say No; to Burnout

US rail workers might be joining their UK brethren, leaving the rails and joining the picket line. Threats of a strike were issued last Friday and will shut down not only freight lines but commuter lines as well.

Washington is beginning to feel the heat, calling emergency meetings with Union reps in an attempt to stave off an outright strike. While some of the Unions have relented and accepted brokered deals, other US Rail Unions, including the two largest and most politically powerful, are standing firm.

Failure to reach an agreement could cost the US economy $2 billion per day in lost output and could threaten to collapse the already fragile supply chain.

Let’s all hope for a quick resolution.

Read more about it here.

The supply chain situation is... rough... to put it politely. The 20s’ have not been gentle, nor does it seem like it’s going to be easing up anytime soon. So, we’re left trying to find alternative means to move stuff from A to B in the most painless way possible.

While the thought might be more appropriate from an Asimov or Suarez novel, the US military is reaching out to the would-be space gurus Musk, Bezos, and Branson and have proposed shifting the supply chain to, you guessed it, outer space.

Conceptually it’s simple; a rocket can escape the atmosphere and fly faster than a jet, cutting transit time from weeks or days down to mere minutes.

Expensive? Hellaciously so. Cool? Undoubtedly.

Check it out.

While commonly applied to drug resistance education, it can actually be quite helpful in preventing burnout at work. A new trend is sweeping through the younger generations and is taking TikTok and mental health advocates by storm, quiet quitting.

While the concept is nothing new (see working to rule or malicious compliance), quiet quitting is the philosophy that rather than quitting the job, you quit going above and beyond. Instead of doing extra, you stick to what’s in your job description.

It is a counterpoint to the working-class ethos that has persisted entirely too long, stemming from the concept that “company loyalty” will reward hard work and effort instead of merely exploiting it for a “good job” and a pizza party.

In a world that runs on burnout, all we can say is it’s about damn time.

You can learn more about quiet quitting here.

This Latin America Food Supply Chain Startup

Check out this FLOW

That’s just plain evil.

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