Shortages!

Sounded like mainly middle management bs from the ones I talked to, and then after a few quit the others were supposed to cover all their work so they walked too. Guess with the way the job market is you dont have to put up with much anymore, and it's easier to get a raise switching jobs then getting one at the same dealer

Local JD dealer in town had pretty significant turnover over last few years in parts and service side. It's a corporate thing. One of the ex-JD parts guy was over last week and we're chatting a bit about it. Had a long conversation just before or just after he quit a few years back and it was pretty easy to see the corporate side of things dictating it. Spent 25 years working for various corporations and it was pretty easy to identify. It's hard on the employee in those situations and that was pretty much the central point of our talk at the time. A good employee wants to do good for people they service but the corporation puts roadblocks up all the time.

I basically got the same thing from Young's Equipment Regina yesterday. Said that when draining/changing the transmission fluid on Friday they found what looked like a gear tooth in the oil. The service guy said given the time frame and what it would take to look at it closer that I should probably take it as it is and run it. I was ok for a few comments saying I wasnt going to put a $12k reman in and didn't have time to run to Combine World to get a used one for $6k. But right after the words "no fukin schit I am going to take it home and run it, I don't have any choice", the conversation was rather one sided and not very constructive from then on.

This stuff is a company thing. It is not one guy working in service that decides whose equipment gets worked on, whose gets sidelined, who gets a loaner. It's a company thing. So it is not really fair to unload on a service guy but on the other hand, when a company does that to a customer, it is pretty hard to expect the customer to take it in stride.

No, we didn't talk about labour shortage or parts availability yesterday. It wasn't the underlying issue. I was dealing with a company issue.

Don't know when I will get my combine back. If it was here I would be in the field tomorrow. Don't really feel like calling service guy for an update. I might call the sales rep. It won't make a bit of difference asking to speak with someone in management. When it is a company culture you are trying to deal with then talking to different departments doesn't matter.

Did get a Wajax service guy (Allison rep) out first thing yesterday morning though. Was texting during weekend with the service guy who supplied and programmed the tcm I picked up on Friday. He also farms about 15 miles away and so lined up a guy to come out and help me. Turns out I had things sorted out but had buggered up a pin on plug probing it and so it wasnt making contact when plugged in. I suspected as much and tried disassembling the plug but was at the point I had to apply more force to get it apart and just didn't want to screw things up more. Turns out I just had to try harder.

So Wajax gave me a totally different service experience than Young's. Both companies working in same city with same labour market. One knows how to help a customer, one picks and chooses who they help. Individuals certainly plays a huge role, but the company culture is what allows individuals to do well or not.

I see next year being even more of a gong show than the last couple. We’ve spent more time waiting on little parts for stuff this fall than we have ever before. Yesterday I went to town for half a dozen little things, came home with only one thing, but unfortunately it was one alternator belt and I needed two, it ended up being too short so I called back to see if they had a couple the next size bigger, nope, just one, and just one the next size up from that. Have to wait until tomorrow to get the other one out from Winnipeg. Little things like this have added days to getting things ready. Every where you go they are short staffed. Had a guy stop by a couple days ago looking for work painting barns and bins, he has worked solo all year because he can’t find any workers. Every store has help wanted signs up. Is the government still giving out CERB or why/how can people afford to not work?

When talking with sales guys about compact tractors he said tires for them are getting harder to get. My MFWD could use new tires so planning to get some on order and store here for a year or two before I really need them.

I should have shopped more for that 50A breaker however there has been lots of talk over the last couple years about panels being in short supply. Guy at Gescan last month said they are getting really low on stock on stuff like that. That was part of my mindset for grabbing the breaker when I did. I was looking for a 3R panel for the bin fan area and over the phone the Gescan guy they had a couple. Great, will be in next week. When I go there the next guy says no chance, hasn't seen one for a few years and the first guy never heard the 3R part (outdoor rated). So put a Siemens indoor panel into a 3R box.

Yesterday I learnt you can combine 95 acres with no oil in the gearbox that is fed from seperator drive to the feeder house. The guy changing oil forgot the second step of the 2 step process. Waiting to hear on availability of gear box.

The wife is a store manager at Walmart, she can not even find people to run the tills and only at 70% to budget for wages overall. The workers she does have are for the most part useless if they show up. Out of her six assistant managers, three are from India, one from the Philippines, and two locals. The three from India are running circles around the others, I don't know what the hell happened to the will to work and how these people can get by without showing up for work.I am pretty sure there are no government programs left.

I had a buddy phone me the other day looking for some 4 or 6 gauge wire to hook up a sub panel. I guess that is in short supply too and what he did find was 4x what it normally should be. I really don't know how much longer this can go on. Even baler twine just about doubled from last year.

Hope all our grain trucks remain in good condition. A neighbor had his engine blow in the spring and is still waiting for the engine to be installed. He is hoping for the truck today but yesterday the engine is no where close to installed on the truck. I let him use my kenworth in the meantime. Very scary to farm now when the labour force and shipping freight companies dont care when the products get to you.