Toilet paper limits, empty shelves are back as virus surges

[Judi Lynn]

Last edited Wed Nov 18, 2020, 01:15 AM - Edit history (2)

Source: Associated Press

By JOSEPH PISANI and ANNE D'INNOCENZIO
a few seconds ago

NEW YORK (AP) -- Looking for toilet paper? Good luck.

A surge of new coronavirus cases in the U.S. is sending people back to stores to stockpile again, leaving shelves bare and forcing retailers to put limits on purchases.

Walmart said Tuesday it's having trouble keeping up with demand for cleaning supplies in some stores. Supermarket chains Kroger and Publix are limiting how much toilet paper and paper towels shoppers can buy after demand spiked recently. And Amazon is sold out of most disinfectant wipes and paper towels.

A similar scene played out back in March, when the pandemic first hit and people hunkered down in their homes.

But Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the Consumer Brands Association, formerly the Grocery Manufacturers Association, said he doesn't expect things to be as bad this go-around since lockdowns are being handled on a regional basis and everyone is better prepared.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-3e22bd5b4d448c3906c1dabd81f19abe

[Sherman A1]

1. Yup

That is what I’m seeing here.

[AllaN01Bear]

2. same. rationing should be next. cupons the like .

[sandensea]

3. Roll with it, baby!

Here we go again.

[dware]

4. WalMart has contracted my services to haul

their trailers from their distribution center just north of Barstow to the greater Las Vegas area and their Pahrump, NV. stores again, and they're paying top dollar.

I just had my truck inspected by WalMart truck mechanics today and passed with flying colors, picked up a trailer and will be on my way tomorrow to their Pahrump store.

[JudyM]

5. Safe and easy travels!

[dware]

6. Thank you. nt

[Wellstone ruled]

9. Interesting,

local Walmarts have been behind the curve on inventory since April. When you have buying contracts based on lowest dollar,what can go wrong. Georgia Pacific(Koch Industries) closed two of their major Consumer Paper Plants in Wisconsin and Arkansas as the Covid 19 hit. Gee,you think that caused a supply problem? Walmart is GP's single largest retailer .

[dware]

12. And this pertains to me how?

[Wellstone ruled]

13. Surprised you are dragging product from Cali into

Vegas. Major Walmart Dry Goods Distribution Center in North Las Vegas,another in St George Ut,113 miles away,another in Phoenix. Some body screwed up . Stock outs are giving you some extra miles out of their screw ups.

[dware]

15. I have no idea why I'm hauling from the Barstow facility,

I just go where they tell me to go, for all I know, after I drop this load, they may dispatch me to a different distribution center to haul from there.

I'll know tomorrow if that's the case.

[Wellstone ruled]

16. Nice thing is you don't have to pull the load

off. Gravy is gravy. No Lumper fee.

[dware]

17. That's what I love about hauling for WalMart,

it's all drop and hook and it's all dry van trailers.

[Wellstone ruled]

21. See they are also pulling all

reefers off now. No more Lumper charges. But,nothing wrong with drop and hook.

[HermitageHermit]

22. I don't think that's really true

With schools closed, travel down, millions working at home, people are crapping at home instead of at work or other locations.

Its a disruption of the toilet paper business. If you wanted to buy a colossal industrial sized roll of TP, you'd probably not have a problem.

Ditto with the canned tomatoes or whatever. Canners are used to selling a lot of tomatoes or ketchup in 7 lb cans, not supermarket sized packages.

Walmart is seeing sharply increased demands for these lines due to pandemic shutdowns.

[hamsterjill]

19. My hat's off to the truckers.

You guys and gals rock and keep this country running.

When I’m on the highway, I do my best to move over and let you guys roll because I know you have schedules, etc. AND you’re doing it all for the rest of us.

Be safe!

[Steelrolled]

24. I'm with you

I always give them plenty of space. I hate to see when people in cars pass a truck and then pull right in front. I think it is illegal in my state, but I don't know if it is enforced.

[dware]

31. Thank you.

I've logged over 400,000 miles since I started as an owner/operator and, so far, nary an accident or incident, I've passed every DOT inspection with flying colors, never been dinged for a logbook violation, only been late for a delivery once because of snow and ice over the 3 Sisters mountain range in WY, and no citations at all and my Lucille has not let me down yet.

[mr_lebowski]

25. I don't know it from being there ... but I'm guessing that's a pretty boring drive ...

With mostly other big trucks on the road I'm guessing?

[dware]

30. Yeah, it can get pretty boring,

especially in S Cal and S NV where all you see is brown desert, hardly any greenery.
If I pull exclusively from the Barstow facility, my route is N. on I-15 to Baker, then grab the 127 out of Baker, then at Shoshone I'll turn onto the 178 to the NV border where the highway turns into NV SR 372 and from there I'll either go to the Pahrump store or I'll grab NV SR 160 into Las Vegas, that way I avoid the Baker Grade and I actually save myself about 30-45 minutes depending on traffic and road conditions at the top of the Baker Grade.

I have dropped my loaded trailer, picked up an empty and now just waiting on the dispatcher to send me to ??????
Hopefully somewhere North of NV, maybe to the WalMart distribution center in St. George, UT.
Keeping fingers crossed.

[Bengus81]

33. Wonder how boring it would for UPS semi drivers doing the Wichita to OKC run

I mean damn, it's a boring enough drive for 99% of it but to make that trip down and back up day after day. Wow!

I worked there forty years ago for a little while as a delivery driver, the semi guys made a lot more but I would rather do what I was doing.

[Midnight Writer]

7. Just got home from the grocery. Shelves aren't empty, but they are sparse.

The good news is shoppers were maybe 95% masked.

That is a big turn around from last week's visit when I bet fewer than 50% wore masks.

[Warpy]

8. Toilet paper was slightly depleted

but once again, there was only one brand of peanut butter on the shelves and it's a brand I heartily dislike. Oh, well. It's not quite as bad as it was the last week of February.

I shopped the day before the new shelter in place order was issued. I suppose the store has been cleaned out now.

At least the bog roll conundrum was solved--anyone who's been in the military knows that during any sort of cutback, toilet paper on base is the first thing to disappear. I had seriously wondered if Facebook had come out with a TP and peanut butter lasagna craze last February.

[dhill926]

10. saw it today at a Target in Ventura....

crazy. Hardly any TP and folks had their carts piled high with stuff. Winter should be um, interesting...

[HermitageHermit]

23. People are stocking up provisions for winter

The only problem is that Target just doesn't ave the stock yet

[Polybius]

11. Thankfully, I'm good until roughly May or June

I stacked up after the supplies came back in.

[flibbitygiblets]

14. Interesting how MAGAts who don't believe in COVID will gleefully shove old people out of the way

to get that precious TP. I imagine they'll do likewise when the vaccines start to come out.

Republicans: The "I, Me, Mine" party.

[marie999]

18. Sam's Club in Jacksonville, NC has loads of paper towels and toilet paper.

We keep a 3-month supply of both plus Clorox bleach and Clorox Cleaner.

[hamsterjill]

20. Our Costco has been out of paper towels.

They did have lots of toilet paper and they had bleach. I try to keep bleach on hand for disinfecting.

[noneof_theabove]

26. Bainless NitWits

If you would just buy as you normally do everything would be fine.

Get out of panic mode and think.

Have you ever used 96 rolls in a week? Didn't think so.

Why would you need to buy that much now.

Normal operations my stores have full stock of what I want, except it takes 3 stores to get what I want,
what one does not carry the others will.

Freedumz have totally removed all logic and critical thinking from the majority of people.

[CrispyQ]

27. Have they used all the TP they bought last spring?

The store I shop at has maintained purchase limits on TP & facial tissue since last spring. Last week was the first week they had rubbing alcohol back in stock.

[TomCADem]

28. Exactly. At the rate I am going through my hoard...

...I am good through early 2021 at least. My wife wants to get more, but we don't have any more space.

[CrispyQ]

29. I've never bought a 12-pack of TP before.

I read about the pandemic back in January & bought a 12-pack in February. My husband teased me, but one month later you couldn't find TP anywhere. We picked up a second 12-pack this summer, so we're good for a while, too. Crazy times.

[truthisfreedom]

32. I stocked up a month or more ago when I heard that retailers were predicting massive shortages again

Next it will be food items. One pack of meat per customer, just like before. Not surprising.