GM and others shutting down production.

spoon059 wrote:

fj12ryder wrote:
Hmm, so paying someone the necessary amount so they can afford to buy what they build is unsustainable? I'll have to think about that one.

Hmm, so we should pay everyone enough money that they can afford a Lamborghini? The guy that sweeps the floor at NASA should be able to afford a space shuttle? How about the guy that delivers the rivets that assemble the newest cruise ship... he should be paid enough to afford to buy a cruise ship? Think about that too...

For what its worth, I get paid quite a bit more than $15/hour and I can't comfortably afford a top of the line GMC Denali. How much more should I demand from my employer so that I can afford expensive luxuries?

You don't buy chips. You buy what they're used for. Intel doesn't make trucks.

spoon059 wrote:

RetiredRealtorRick wrote:
Too bad we don't have the know how/technology/workforce/ability/desire to produce these chips in the US.

$15/hour minimum wage would make that exceptionally cost prohibitive.

At least they'd have trucks to sell!!!!

fj12ryder wrote:
Hmm, so paying someone the necessary amount so they can afford to buy what they build is unsustainable? I'll have to think about that one.

Hmm, so we should pay everyone enough money that they can afford a Lamborghini? The guy that sweeps the floor at NASA should be able to afford a space shuttle? How about the guy that delivers the rivets that assemble the newest cruise ship... he should be paid enough to afford to buy a cruise ship? Think about that too...

For what its worth, I get paid quite a bit more than $15/hour and I can't comfortably afford a top of the line GMC Denali. How much more should I demand from my employer so that I can afford expensive luxuries?

Hmm, so paying someone the necessary amount so they can afford to buy what they build is unsustainable? I'll have to think about that one.

spoon059 wrote:

Grit dog wrote:

spoon059 wrote:

time2roll wrote:
Anyone thinking to avoid these trucks as possibly problematic?

Tires breaking down. Rubber belts degrading. Rubber seals degrading. Paint oxidizing.

Yea, I could see some issues.

Umm yeah, no, not really. Not at all, unless they sit for years and years.
And, based on current inventory and prices, don’t really see an issue with the mfgs off loading them. The longer the shortage, the more the demand.

Umm yeah, seen it happen with cars my employer bought. They sat for over a year. Batteries were completely dead and needed to be replaced. Many of them had oil leaks due to dry rotted seals. Tires had flat spots from sitting. It happens.

Look into it. Most car batteries will have significant voltage drop at 2 months. These are sitting for a year? Strong chance they are ruined. https://blog.nationwide.com/can-car-battery-go-dead-from-sitting/

A year of sitting in the sun and not being driven, with the full weight on the tires?
https://www.firestonecompleteautocare.com/blog/tires/what-causes-tire-flat-spots/#

Erie Insurance has a blog about stored vehicles and potential problems. https://www.erieinsurance.com/blog/how-long-can-your-car-sit

So does Edmunds. https://www.edmunds.com/car-maintenance/how-to-prep-your-car-for-long-term-storage.html

I forgot about fuel breaking down in the tanks. Oil thats started to breakdown. Pests getting into things.

I agree, it is better, in general, for a vehicle to be driven, and not just parked, and dead batteries, not able to be recharged are probably the most common issue.

But beyond that, again, unless we're talking alot more than a year, or even 2, a new or reasonably new car will not leak oil, flat spot tires and oxidize the paint.

That's overly dramatic.

How many years before a newish un-garaged car gets the paint baked to the point of damage by the sun? Even in Arizona, lets say?
I'll go with well over 5 and probably around 10. Lesser UV exposure climates, even longer.
Radial tires don't flat spot permanently, engine oil doesn't go "bad", new oil doesn't even have acids in it, why would they have fuel added if they weren't drivable?

Again, idk what vehicles your employer had that started falling apart parked for a year, maybe Fords, LOL!!
But the issue isn't some cars sat in a parking lot for a year.

monkey44 wrote:
No law against paying more than minimum wage for trained and skilled employees. If we had brought that work back to USA, we would not be in this dilemma. It's not just trucks either.

It's the untrained, unskilled workers that are not worth that pay.

Perhaps the guy actually making the part deserves more than $15 an hour... but what about when you have to pay the janitor $15 an hour to clean up, the parts guy $15 an hour to order parts, the warehouse guy $15 an hour to move parts, the parking attendant $15 an hour to help people park, the lady behind the lunch counter $15 an hour to warm up food, etc etc?

It quickly becomes unsustainable.

wing_zealot wrote:
You got to be kidding! We can’t even do something as relatively benign as drill for oil in this country let alone something as Environmentally Friendly as strip mining for lithium or silicon. Hard to manufacture chips when you don’t have the raw material to do it with.

True. Sad, but true...

spoon059 wrote:

RetiredRealtorRick wrote:
Too bad we don't have the know how/technology/workforce/ability/desire to produce these chips in the US.

$15/hour minimum wage would make that exceptionally cost prohibitive.

No law against paying more than minimum wage for trained and skilled employees. If we had brought that work back to USA, we would not be in this dilemma. It's not just trucks either.

It's the untrained, unskilled workers that are not worth that pay.

Grit dog wrote:

spoon059 wrote:

time2roll wrote:
Anyone thinking to avoid these trucks as possibly problematic?

Tires breaking down. Rubber belts degrading. Rubber seals degrading. Paint oxidizing.

Yea, I could see some issues.

Umm yeah, no, not really. Not at all, unless they sit for years and years.
And, based on current inventory and prices, don’t really see an issue with the mfgs off loading them. The longer the shortage, the more the demand.

Umm yeah, seen it happen with cars my employer bought. They sat for over a year. Batteries were completely dead and needed to be replaced. Many of them had oil leaks due to dry rotted seals. Tires had flat spots from sitting. It happens.

Look into it. Most car batteries will have significant voltage drop at 2 months. These are sitting for a year? Strong chance they are ruined. https://blog.nationwide.com/can-car-battery-go-dead-from-sitting/

A year of sitting in the sun and not being driven, with the full weight on the tires?
https://www.firestonecompleteautocare.com/blog/tires/what-causes-tire-flat-spots/#

Erie Insurance has a blog about stored vehicles and potential problems. https://www.erieinsurance.com/blog/how-long-can-your-car-sit

So does Edmunds. https://www.edmunds.com/car-maintenance/how-to-prep-your-car-for-long-term-storage.html

I forgot about fuel breaking down in the tanks. Oil thats started to breakdown. Pests getting into things.

RetiredRealtorRick wrote:
Too bad we don't have the know how/technology/workforce/ability/desire to produce these chips in the US.

$15/hour minimum wage would make that exceptionally cost prohibitive.