He runs London Road Rental, and said the price of rental equipment is going up, or impossible to find.

He sat down with other business leaders at a roundtable discussion hosted by Congressmen Pete Stauber and Tom Tiffany.

Dave Faynik, from Altec, said they are being impacted by all aspects. "Whether it's the steel components, electrical components, and now it's the truck chassis."

In fact, he said there's now an allocation system for the industry, for the chassis. 

For trucking in general, they are facing a big shortage of drivers. There's also a shortage of workers in general, who make the supplies that sit on our grocery store shelves.

Patrick Miner, VP of Miner's Incorporated, said, "Last week, we received 78% of our deliveries." 

No one knows better than the auto industry. Dwayne Haapanen from Kolar said that the way people buy cars has changed so much. They only have about six unsold vehicles on their lots right now. Normally, they'd have about 350 to choose from. "And parts are really hard to get. And where we live, in an extreme climate, cars break and need to be repaired," Haapanen shared.

One solution includes companies looking inland for shipping opportunities to alleviate some of the bottleneck. Last month, the Duluth Seaway Port Authority and Duluth Cargo Connect shared that they are ready to handle more container cargo.

Jayson Hron, Director of Communication and Marketing for the Port Authority, said they are already in talks with private retailers and shipping lines, and expect to see some of the action in the spring.

"If we can get 400 containers on a ship, and have that service weekly or monthly, that's hopefully a solution and more economically efficient for everyone around this table," Hron said.

Tiffany and Stauber are working on the regulation side, to help the trucking industry open up more opportunities for drivers.

They both also are advocating for more companies that make those valuable computer chips, to build in America.

Many also said something needs to be done to help educate the next generation about work ethic and fields like transportation.

To see the original report and read related stories, follow this link to the WDIO-TV website. https://www.wdio.com/news/supply-chain-roundtable-congressman-tom-tiffany-pete-stauber-business-ship...