By Melissa Baltimore
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Businesses across Baltimore County are struggling to meet growing consumer demands as the supply chain crisis from COVID-19 has led to labor shortages and shipping backups at ports, local business leaders said.
In addition, business officials said the labor shortages have also led to reduced hours at businesses and increased prices for products.
Nancy Hafford, the executive director of the Towson Chamber of Commerce, said another problem affecting local retailers, restaurants, car dealerships and other businesses is that they have also entered tax season.
“This time of year, they have to pay taxes,” Hafford said. “They’re barely making it through.”
While the global supply chain has been subject to disruptions, the current crisis is caused by labor shortages from industries such as truck drivers, warehouse workers, longshoremen, stevedores, checkers, crane operators, rail operators, shipbuilders, ferry boat operators and port authority personnel, said Dr. Chaodong Han, a professor and chair of the College of Business and Economics at Towson University.
“Ports and warehouses just do not have enough capacity to process the flow of goods on demand,” Han said.
Ed Hale, the owner of Hale Transport, which is a container drayage company that offers cross-docking services for import and export cargo at the Port of Baltimore, said his company relies entirely on independent contractors for trucking services, and is still struggling to find labor after losing nearly half of its truck drivers during the pandemic.
“I literally have been running ads in papers with sign-on bonuses,” Hale said. “All this stuff to try to attract drivers to come work for us because we turned down so much business, and we don’t even get a phone call.”
Hale said that when imports from China halted in February 2020, the Port of Baltimore reduced its labor to 50% capacity. As independent contractors, these truck drivers could not apply for unemployment and many of them left the port industry for jobs at UPS, Fedex and Amazon, he said.
“I called them all back seeing if they were willing to come back,” Hale said, “and they said no. They were making good money working for UPS.”
Hafford said that staffing is also the major issue for restaurants and shops across Baltimore County. Some owners of local restaurants and shops are having their kids help out at work, she said.
“They’re hit staffing-wise,” Hafford said. “There’s a sign in almost every small business that they need help.”
While she’s unsure about why there is a labor shortage, Hafford said that some people may just now be using the money they received while unemployed. Additionally, Hafford said that many daycare centers closed during the pandemic, and the few that remain are short-staffed. However, not all parents can afford daycare.
“If you’re making $15 an hour you can’t hire somebody to come in for $10 an hour,” Hafford said. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
John Clifton, a manager at Towson Delly North in Timonium, said the availability and cost of labor is his biggest concern with the business going forward.
“My business revolves around corporate catering, a lot of it,” Clifton said. “And that is non-existent at this point.”
In addition to labor shortages, Clifton said that increased product price means he’s “learned to make things go further,” such as fryer oil, which has doubled in price. In order to reduce costs, Clifton said he now refrains from turning the fryers for as long.
“They don’t always have everything on the menu,” Hafford said about restaurants. “And when they get things, some of the prices have tripled for the product.”
Nara Khakurel, the owner of Coffee Talk Cafe in Towson, said the supply chain crisis has also affected business product availability. Khakurel said that supply warehouses where he purchases goods for the cafe have empty shelves or a more limited range of products.
“We have done so much leg work and other research to find the alternatives for the certain things which are not available, like seeking online orders, visiting several stores from time to time, et cetera,” Khakurel said. “And we end up paying more and getting it with a long wait of time.”
Hale said that the sharp increase in online shopping has overwhelmed manufacturing plants and exporters, furthering the supply chain crisis.
“We don’t see this slowing down through 2022,” Hale said. “Because people are buying goods and they’ve changed the way they’re buying goods.”
Han said that an increase in local sourcing can help alleviate supply chain crises.
“Companies heavily relying on global sourcing have learned their lessons in the hard way,” Han said.
For customers interested in helping local businesses at this time, Hafford said that customers should tip restaurants extra, buy gift cards, and avoid using food delivery services, which often take as much as 30% of profits.
“You just keep your money in your community as much as you can,” Hafford said.