Could Michigan Grocery Store Shelves be Bare in a Matter of Weeks?

The Covid-19 pandemic changed the world and personally taught me about so many things I never knew about. For example, I had no clue what the heck a "PANDEMIC" was, but I learned a lot about it over the past several years of dealing with it.

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Besides the word pandemic, a new phrase I learned was "supply chain". According to Wikipedia,

in commerce, a supply chain is a network of facilities that procure raw materials, transform them into intermediate goods, and then final products to customers through a distribution system.

Could Michigan Grocery Store Shelves be Bare in a Matter of Weeks?

One thing that's incredibly important for a supply chain is diesel fuel for semi trucks to transport food and goods to supermarkets. Back on October 27, Fox News pundit Tucker Carlson said this:

“by the Monday of Thanksgiving week,” or in 25 days, “there will be no more diesel”

 

Is the U.S. going to run out of diesel fuel in 25 days?

In short, the answer is NO. The United States will not run out of diesel fuel in 25 days and here's why. According to Houston-based oil expert Andy Lipow

We will not run out of diesel in 25 days unless we simply stopped producing or importing and drew down inventory. I know of no government agency predicting the country will run out of diesel by Thanksgiving.

 

Why Did Some People Make Claim The U.S. Would Run Out Of Diesel Fuel?

Verify This said that the number that Tucker Carlson and others cited comes from U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data. For the week ending Oct. 21, EIA data showed the U.S. had 25.9 days’ worth of supply of diesel fuel. But oil experts told Verify that that number doesn’t mean the U.S. will run out of diesel fuel in under a month.

I'm glad that we're not facing a diesel fuel shortage. I remember how crazy things were when everyone and their mother was searching everywhere for a freaking roll of toliet paper.

A big thank you to all of the hard-working men and women who keep our U.S. supply chain going. We appreciate you!