23:59:59

This message comes from NPR sponsor. Plymouth. Gin Plymouth. Jane is imported from England. South West Coast and is distilled using a blend of seven Botanicals including juniper berry coriander seed and citrus peel play with James since 1793. This is fresh air. Terry Gross noticed that one of the impacts of the pandemic is that it's just harder to buy stuff. Not everything, but there have been priced bikes and shortages of big dick. items like cars and building materials as well as products as common as toilet paper nutella and cream cheese the. shortages are due in part to disruptions in the global supply chain a phrase few of us were using before last year Our. Guest Wall Street Journal columnist Christopher Memes has new book which takes close look at the complex network of technology and people that make up that supply chain he. Follows hypothetical U.S. be charger from the Vietnamese factory where it's made to it's delivery to home in Connecticut, jury that for Vs. fourteen thousand miles and twelve time. Zones it involves barges shipping containers, trucks and warehouses employing countless people robots and miles of travel on conveyor belts, memes examines the sophisticated technology and work rules that squeeze every ounce of inefficiency out of these processes and her sometimes punishing effects on the workers that toil in the system Christopher. Rooms as technology columnist at the Wall Street Journal who has degree in neuroscience and behavioral biology from Emory University previously, he was correspondent and editor for course. He's also been an editor at Scientific American Technology Review and Smithsonian his new book is called arriving Today From Factory Different Dorm Why Everything Has Changed About How And What We" By Christopher memes welcome to Fresh Air, you started researching this. book you know beginning in vietnam where this Product that you follow was manufactured in by coincidence I guess it was in March twenty with would just as the pandemic. was becoming was global threat

2:10

That you didn't set out obviously to do a

2:12

book about these disruptions in the supply chain

2:14

that have made some which news lately you

2:16

thought the supply chain in normal

2:18

times when it functions as intended.

2:21

There's story worth telling.

2:24

A big part of it is that there has just been so

2:26

much change, and disruption

2:29

in the global supply chain how

2:31

things get from the factory our front

2:33

door obviously a big part of that

2:36

is ecommerce, and

2:38

Amazon and. so frankly

2:41

if you wanna look at how automation

2:43

is affecting workers over the world i

2:45

think there's no better place to look than

2:49

him delivery and warehouses

2:52

There's just so much transformation happening

2:54

there there's so many robots being employed

2:57

but, it turns out you can't really tell that

2:59

story without looking at the entire

3:01

global supply team because. kind

3:04

of way to top that narrative is this

3:06

century long chains

3:09

in where things are made and how they get to us

3:12

Right and with these disruptions

3:14

which you mention not the disruptions of

3:16

the pandemic but just the way things

3:18

have been revolutionized and

3:20

freight transport and distribution things.

3:23

are just so much cheaper to get long

3:25

distances a you cite an example

3:27

of codfish caught off scotland

3:29

tell us about this

3:31

The treated in the god that are tie off

3:34

the coast of Scotland are,

3:36

shipped to China

3:38

or Southeast Asia where

3:41

their filleted because the cost of labor

3:43

costs as much lower their and

3:45

then shipped back to Scotland obviously they're

3:47

frozen on the way. i'm

3:50

so it's a jury many thousands of miles

3:53

because transporting that cod is

3:55

so much cheaper than paying domestic

3:57

workers to prepare that cod

4:00

So so we've got free

4:02

transported across oceans so

4:05

efficient that I think he said it you can speed

4:07

you can send. Then. Television across

4:09

the Pacific for up for a fee of what couple

4:11

bucks yeah, I mean before the

4:13

been them and you can send a large screen television

4:16

in A. Shipping container port report from

4:19

China to the port of Los Angeles for two dollars,

4:22

obviously that's because you're sending in the sipping

4:24

near that stuffed full of these. On

4:27

televisions also obviously,

4:29

that costs have gone up substantially during

4:31

the pandemic by that, you know,

4:34

for many years has been the norm is

4:36

to that cheap to ship something. Even if it's large

4:38

or at so let's take look at this journey that you chronicle

4:41

here, chronicle mean this US

4:43

beach roger which you found it is your metaphor

4:45

for. This product that's gonna, go all

4:47

the way through the supply chain is manufactured

4:50

chain vietnam has

4:52

huge manufacturing industry know lot of stuff

4:54

in china is The has

4:57

moved to other places because labor's expensive

4:59

and they have huge market of their own. What's

5:01

interesting though is that lot of these manufactured

5:04

finished goods when they're manufactured

5:06

in Vietnam don't travel to Port by rail

5:08

or truck. The go.

5:11

Will. Be an arm is blessed

5:13

ways, of course, a very elaborate river

5:15

system and they don't have

5:17

lot of road and rail infrastructure,

5:20

but in some way they don't need it. So what happens

5:22

in Vietnam is that there are lot of factories where,

5:25

they finished goods day stuff I'm into

5:27

trucker, shipping container and then that is immediately.

5:30

Put on to have small

5:32

bards and you'll only holds about

5:34

eighty shipping containers and shipping

5:37

container is about easy tall and forty feet

5:39

long. and then those

5:41

shipping containers or shipping down the river

5:43

The Saigon River on to

5:46

port which faces of course

5:48

the Pacific Ocean and there they are

5:50

transferred onto the oceangoing

5:52

giants the very large oceangoing.

5:55

shipping containers which you know we've all seen images

5:58

as People know.

6:00

That Mueller shipping containers have can

6:02

revolutionize maritime freight transport,

6:04

give us a cents. They're

6:07

dimensions and the scale at which

6:09

they are shipped me how

6:11

big are these ships, how many how many containers

6:13

can they carry, what does it look like?

6:16

Then. Empire State Building laid on it's side

6:18

it's a few almost exactly those dimensions mean

6:20

the largest of them the very largest

6:22

you can put for soccer,

6:25

pitches are on their. Deck

6:27

and still have little bit of room left over by

6:29

you talking about of asshole that you know

6:32

from the waterline to the top is

6:34

fifteen stories tall,. And

6:37

the biggest of them can carry in ten

6:39

thousand forty foot,

6:42

shipping containers and

6:45

it's their size, it's their scale,

6:48

which makes shipping so

6:50

cheap and so efficient because

6:53

you. Know the more goods you're moving all

6:55

at once because the physics of in

6:57

bring them on his ship and moving them on

6:59

the water, which turns out to be the. Most efficient

7:01

way we've ever invented. to move goods

7:04

it just drives the cost down by making me

7:06

subs bigger and bigger Posted

7:09

about the lives of crew members. Then.

7:12

Be true on modern ships

7:15

that's moving shipping containers people,

7:18

as jokingly been compared to you

7:20

being prison, but it's only

7:22

sort of half joking is a. You're living

7:24

in an office building that you can never, leave

7:27

you're going to see sunset and sunrise

7:29

and they might be stunning by your

7:32

sort of confined to the braids.

7:34

Specific an officer, ah, you

7:36

know, in your job is managerial

7:38

and you're doing navigation, and

7:41

doing you know, if you're and of so called the able

7:43

bodied semen you may be. Walking the ship's

7:45

do, repairs ah but

7:48

the other joke about this is you know become

7:50

sailor travel around the world

7:52

see,. none of it because

7:55

when these ships arrive in ports

7:58

that whole process So. Swift

8:01

so automated Ah, you know

8:03

the ship's can be turned around and as little

8:05

as twenty four hours of the series

8:07

may not even have chance to leave the. Ship when

8:09

they arrive in ports and yet they might be announced

8:12

six month's round trip journey halfway around

8:14

the world, and so that you always

8:16

have modern sailor These

8:19

are you, know if think

8:22

the in some ways it's very lonely. they're

8:25

not allowed to drink on board him

8:28

very rarely going ashore on

8:30

it's strangely kind of strangely office job

8:33

on the high seas

8:34

I didn't know crews are being read, you never see, was thirty

8:36

people running one of these things, least this

8:39

container vessels.

8:40

Yeah, you can have less than 20. I mean,

8:43

at these ships need, maybe a dozen people

8:45

for Skeleton But

8:47

you know, the size of the cruise, keep shrinking.

8:49

Even as the ship keep growing and

8:51

lately, when you've had ships that have

8:53

been unable to dock because of the at

8:56

ports. Or

8:58

this or the. The sailors

9:00

a simply captive for weeks or months.

9:03

They. Are and,

9:06

you know, it's one thing to be, stuck

9:09

at the port of Los Angeles, you know off, the

9:11

coast of California I mean that's unpleasant

9:14

and Ah. That can really

9:17

throw can spanner in to people's

9:19

lives and livelihoods,

9:21

but even minded airports

9:23

everywhere minded the world and, and you

9:26

know, that the was return a we have. Reported

9:28

on sailors being trapped, on

9:30

ships in sentence

9:32

for many months beyond what should be

9:35

the end of their contract, I mean this is really

9:37

been a global crisis. Where Cruz can't

9:39

get off the ship much as because of the congestion,

9:41

but because of covert and

9:43

because of in difficulty in traveling

9:45

internationally as different countries shut

9:48

down or open up or change the rules about

9:50

who can come in and means it's sometimes very hard

9:52

to be sailor is as one nationality

9:55

and try to get off the ship in totally different

9:57

country and then fly back to your country of

9:59

origin

10:01

Well, so they're just stuck for the longest

10:03

time and with really no

10:05

recourse.

10:06

Yes at it and it's worth it was more

10:08

than one hundred thousand sailors are

10:11

all over the world fair at sort

10:13

of the most acute point of the pandemic

10:15

were being held on ships beyond

10:18

the end of their contracts that,

10:21

has. eased up to some extent

10:23

and his gun better by the you know it really has

10:25

been really crew teams crisis for teams long

10:27

time

10:28

When one of these massive container ships arrive

10:30

at a port if you look at the wanted the combine

10:33

porters of Los Angeles and Long

10:35

Beach that whether they're adjacent ports in there in

10:37

California the to handle. an enormous

10:39

amount of cargo The ship

10:41

that large has to kind

10:44

of in effect parallel park at dark.

10:47

That's very tight space, how does

10:49

that app?

10:50

Getty. ships are so big now that

10:53

in comparison to the ports for

10:55

they're trying to park in

10:58

there's, almost no margin of error", laughed and so,

11:01

it's any port that. A ship pulls into

11:03

anywhere into the, world is standard

11:05

practice that the captain of that ship

11:07

is not allowed to bring that ship into

11:10

the harbor because it's already tricky. No matter

11:12

where, you are, so a special

11:15

harbor pilot who works

11:17

for that port and knows it backward

11:20

and forward is ferried out to

11:22

that, giant container ship. Or bulk

11:25

carrier and they have

11:27

to you very delicately

11:29

navigate it into this port

11:31

and navigate the port of, Los Angeles and Long,

11:33

Beach I'm, you know, that means.

11:36

Initially kind of getting it into this

11:38

of shipping channel and then

11:41

if they're kind of going up the river

11:43

into, they're of the interior of the

11:45

port the clearances are.

11:47

Just so tiny see have this ship. this as

11:49

big as the empire state building and

11:52

there may be as little as

11:54

three to six feet of clearance

11:57

within the bottom of that ship and

11:59

the bottom of the Then. Piano that it's

12:01

traveling through and then as it travels

12:03

under bridge, there's this particular bridge they

12:05

have to go under there may be as little

12:07

as six feet or even. Three feet of

12:09

clearance between the top of the shifts

12:12

and that bridge and then on

12:14

the left and the rate they, have

12:16

to be extraordinarily careful with

12:18

their speed because. This ship is displeasing

12:21

so much water, that as

12:23

it goes the this narrow ship, channel is

12:25

there going too fast or there too close to

12:27

one side of? The other any ships

12:30

that are more it on either, side, including like

12:32

ancient World War two ships that are floating museums,

12:35

will literally get ripped off the docks

12:37

oh snap. The, ropes holding them there, so

12:40

you know the forces involved when you're shoving

12:43

this enormous ship through this

12:45

narrow ship channel or kind of unreal

12:47

because of displeasing so much. Water that in

12:49

its weight this Kenyan

12:52

of water assessors collapse back in on itself

12:54

behind the ship and course, they, have to do this

12:57

while also directing,

13:00

you. Know tugboats that are helping them turn

13:03

and steer the ship and for their ultimate

13:05

destination. the harbor pilot using nothing

13:07

but verbal direction has

13:10

to Tell. Everybody

13:12

what to do in order to

13:15

to, very, kind

13:17

of all at once and just of

13:19

the raid, speed parallel park

13:22

the ship between two, other. Ships

13:25

up alongside other shore and,

13:27

you know, there may be just few tens

13:29

of feet of concerts at the front and

13:31

the back of the ships and by the very. End

13:33

of this journey you know the ship's engines are

13:35

off like the ship is, just, kind of sliding

13:38

sideways ah into

13:41

this spot and that's. why these

13:43

harbor pilots are asked

13:46

him go through so many years of training

13:48

in order to do this was such training giant vessel When

13:52

these massive?

13:54

That's arrive in Port, the

13:56

goal is to get them. The

13:59

again quickly. That they want to load them quickly

14:01

they want to unload them quickly and you're right

14:03

a lot about how that's done and it's course these

14:05

massive cranes that pull these containers

14:08

off the vessel and. then

14:10

they gotta get loaded onto trucks or rail

14:12

cars tell us little bit about how this works

14:16

So. When one of these enormous ships are, you

14:18

know, comes along side sure these,

14:20

are enormous creams immediately

14:22

swing out and their sole job

14:24

is to pluck for the shipping. Containers authorship

14:27

and get them on of the sure as quickly as possible,

14:30

and your knees can be automated but

14:32

generally this is a skill that

14:34

still requires human being.

14:36

And almost all ports in the, world and,

14:39

you know, in the old days of the crane

14:41

operator actually to sit ins cream,

14:43

on this thing that was sliding

14:46

back. And forth with the shipping, container under

14:48

it was all very dramatic these

14:50

days it,. can be remote controlled and

14:53

but they're trying to pulleys containers

14:55

off of the ship as quickly as possible and then

14:57

get them into the Then. Yard

15:00

as it's called as quickly as possible and

15:03

that varies lot in terms of how it's

15:05

done you, know lot of places

15:07

is still done by humans with. Trucks bed

15:09

just movies, shipping containers about and

15:12

little creams put them into stacks and

15:14

but increasingly that is being heavily

15:17

automated so at the tree back terminal and

15:19

port of. LOS ANGELES, which frankly as I think

15:21

the future of, all of us

15:24

shipping and ports in the U. S.

15:26

on the after that container is

15:29

plucked by the human driven. Crane and dropped

15:31

on the. sure everything is robots

15:34

so these spindly league

15:36

aid wield cream things

15:38

roll over and grabbed

15:41

a shipping container and in the wheel it

15:43

over to another robotic

15:46

so on gantry cream which is much larger

15:48

and it spans larger huge block of shipping

15:50

containers and of picks the shipping container up and then

15:52

it puts it in just for place

15:55

and then twenty four hours day those robotic

15:57

gantry koreans are grooming the stacks

16:00

That. Means that they're sorting the shipping

16:02

containers so, that when the next ship

16:04

comes in the containers it needs

16:07

are on top or when truck comes into

16:09

the port because. It needs to take shipping

16:11

the air out of that port, the

16:13

container that it needs is right on top,

16:15

so it's constantly just

16:18

sorting all of the shipping containers.

16:20

containers the fact that they're using robots allows them to do

16:22

it in much smaller space and

16:24

more efficiently, and so

16:26

you know modern day port it is it's.

16:28

It's like just sorting facility. for

16:31

imagine your children's wooden blocks

16:33

or something you want to make sure that the ray

16:35

block is ready exactly when you need it

16:38

This is amazing I mean and you

16:40

can see video of this on YouTube

16:42

there's these things called auto strands

16:44

that's these robots, on wheels

16:47

which are like thirty feet tall right and

16:49

they, they loom. over

16:51

a stack of containers and pick

16:54

ones are And as you say they need

16:56

to be arranged in the right order because these

16:58

containers are all going different places

17:00

and there are thousands of containers

17:02

on every ship so.

17:05

the job of figuring out What

17:07

needs to go where and where it

17:09

should be stacked so that it can be plucked

17:11

in the right order. How

17:13

is that does that's all software

17:16

so? too

17:17

The same and software that has to make

17:19

decisions about, well, you know what packet

17:22

of data do I need to some next to your

17:24

home, why fire router so that you can

17:26

stream this video, is it any?

17:29

Then. Same sort of problem, but instead of packets

17:31

of data is softer, is deciding

17:34

which shipping container

17:36

do need to move where and at what time

17:38

and because they're shipping container. Is a discrete unit

17:41

of matter own,

17:43

is really like of packet of data

17:45

on the Internet and the same principles and similar

17:47

mathematics are used to figure

17:49

out how. To sort these containers how to

17:52

make sure that the right one is available the right moment

17:54

and of course improving that algorithm by even small

17:56

percentage. can mean savings of

17:58

many millions of dollars for

18:00

So. There is this huge discipline,

18:03

of academics and engineers who

18:05

do nothing but right software, to

18:08

tell all of those port robots how

18:10

to most efficiently organized while the shipping.

18:12

Containers rights to the combination

18:15

of the robotics technology and is

18:17

the algorithms gives you this

18:19

these things crawling around as you see kind of

18:22

like, and they all know where they're. Going

18:24

somehow the sixers. of The

18:27

algorithms what?

18:29

given these marvels of

18:31

automation and speed why are so

18:34

many ships now stacked up outside the port

18:36

au port of los angeles what's going on there

18:39

Three in theory is that building more infrastructure

18:42

for shipping of any kind, whether it's trucking

18:44

or oceangoing sipping takes

18:47

time, and ports especially take decades

18:49

if you want to expand their capacity so.

18:53

These. Ugly Americans went on a shopping spree

18:56

as soon as Lockdown started and we hammer

18:58

really stopped since and

19:00

so we are ordering so

19:03

much stuff and, we have

19:05

transferred so. Much of our spending

19:07

from services railing hospitality

19:09

going on vacations eating out to

19:12

goods, that is

19:14

really jammed up the words of the global

19:16

supply chains and as soon as.

19:19

We know one ship gets delayed, there's

19:21

just this cascading effect, we're

19:24

more and more ships get delayed and because

19:26

they're all on these tight schedules

19:28

where they need to be at. The Port of Los Angeles today

19:31

but in you. know two to four

19:33

weeks they need to be back in your

19:35

shanghai or roberts is they get the

19:37

latest port of los angels that delays

19:39

all of their subsequent legs of their trip

19:42

so that suggests and really feeds on itself

19:44

so little bit of congestion can lead

19:46

to lot of headaches

19:48

Or take another break here, let me reintroduce you were

19:50

speaking with Christopher Memes, he's the science and technology

19:53

columnist for the Wall Street Journal, his

19:55

new book is arriving today from factory

19:57

to front door why everything has

19:59

changed. About how and what we buy

20:02

we'll talk more about the global supply chain

20:04

after the short breaks I'm, dave

20:06

davies and this is fresh air

20:08

This message comes from NPR sponsor.

20:10

Inspire clean energy, Inspire

20:13

is a residential Clean Energy company. That

20:15

matches the electricity. Your home runs on

20:17

with 100% clean, renewable energy

20:20

by switching to an Inspire clean

20:22

energy plan. You can make an even bigger impact

20:24

than recycling for 7 years.

20:27

It's as easy as signing up in

20:29

minute, sign up today and get a free

20:31

month and Inspire clean energy.com

20:33

terms and conditions, apply Journal

20:37

Science and Tech. Columns Christopher

20:39

memes he, has a new book about

20:42

the global supply chain Examines

20:44

the relentless drive to increase efficiency

20:46

and transporting and distributing the goods we buy

20:49

and the effect on workers who toil in the

20:51

ship's warehouses and trucks that get

20:53

all that stuff to our doorsteps,

20:55

his book is called arriving today.

20:58

The once a

21:01

goods cross the Pacific on these

21:03

massive container ships and get

21:05

to the United States, lot of it is, is

21:07

is. Moved by long.

21:10

haul tracks that's tracks problem

21:12

there's shortage of long haul truck drivers why

21:15

is that

21:17

So. We don't have so much a shortage of long haul truck

21:19

drivers in the United States as we have burnout

21:22

and retention problem, so

21:24

there are three or four times

21:27

as. Many people, as

21:29

are driving trucks, currently housed

21:31

the license, which should allow them to drive

21:33

trucks, which just shows you how many people

21:35

tried that job and said

21:37

this isn't for. Me because,

21:40

more and more demands are being placed on

21:42

these drivers in especially throughout the pandemic,

21:45

because so much more material

21:47

was, being shipped and

21:49

it's become. A lifestyle that

21:51

a. lot of people to sign

21:54

completely unsustainable rate is you

21:56

are having trouble finding a place to sleep

21:58

every night because or not That. "If

22:01

you are on the road twenty one days

22:03

out of every thirty, which is typical for long haul

22:05

truck driver, you're working, ah,

22:08

you know, told the fourteen hour days

22:10

every. Day and, you

22:12

don't get to see your family but once

22:14

month or less, meal

22:17

that's meal less than lot of people don't want

22:19

and even though. Some of those truck drivers are getting paid

22:21

lot more the ones who are just getting

22:24

into. tracking they're not getting

22:26

paid allies and so he only

22:28

effectively as in some cases are making less

22:30

than minimum wage

22:32

And and in their lot of risks to him is obviously

22:35

safety risk, but doing they don't get

22:37

paid when the truck has been loaded or unloaded,

22:39

most of these guys, your it used

22:41

to be different decades ago.

22:44

Fucking long haul trucking paid pretty well

22:47

and. then the gum a deregulated it in

22:49

nineteen eighty nineteen mean i guess this is pretty

22:51

complicated but why did that end up driving

22:54

down the earnings of trucker

22:58

Shipping by truth became Much

23:00

less expensive in the United States, but

23:02

it also turned that job

23:04

into a difficult

23:07

form of Peace work

23:09

where the drivers are paid by the mile

23:11

and the shipping

23:13

companies, the truck in Tradition

23:15

companies, you know, sometimes

23:18

I really to make ends meet as

23:21

the prices for the service.

23:23

They offer fluctuate by

23:25

the drivers and the small company simply don't

23:27

have the bargaining power to really in

23:29

command know,

23:31

the revenue. They need to make it

23:33

a decent job. I i guess, you

23:36

spend a lot of time with guy, 51 year

23:38

old driver, Robert Gaillard. Tell us about that

23:40

experience.

23:41

so, I was privileged

23:43

to you know we get a ride along on

23:46

long stretch of are

23:48

you know Roberts? for route

23:51

which of course it doesn't that you didn't have sat route

23:53

that is that thing about long haul trucking it's you're

23:55

literally just stringing together one job after

23:57

another and trying to find loads that

23:59

whatever Space in your app that will take you

24:01

to the next leg of your journey and,

24:04

you know we went on the east coast

24:07

in the middle the winter and it

24:09

was been hearing this is we tested of dressing

24:11

through an ice storms and the entire

24:13

time robert is giving me this monologue

24:16

about you know what's it like

24:18

to be trucker What? Are the safety

24:21

issues I mean, one thing that learned from

24:23

riding with him is sad that reason

24:25

there's so much room in front of a long haul truck

24:27

is? Not because he's opening up space for

24:29

you to cut in front of him

24:32

to get over leaner to it's because they

24:34

need more than football field ah.

24:37

Worth distance to come to full stop

24:39

and especially if it's rainy

24:41

or I see or anything, those are incredibly

24:44

dangerous conditions for the truck

24:46

driver infirmary else on the. Road, so

24:49

is a he I don't think

24:51

that there's any such thing as unskilled labor

24:54

in truck transportation because those

24:56

drivers has to. be completely

24:59

on point The lawyer.

25:01

For all the hours that they're driving in a day and you know

25:03

that can be eleven or twelve hours because.

25:06

they make one mistake These.

25:08

Are current maneuverable you, know

25:10

they can't swerve on,

25:13

you know, if they have to stand on their brakes, it's

25:15

very likely that truck is going to jack me for.

25:17

The back of truck swings around and then

25:19

you can have massive, you know, possibly

25:21

multimillion dollar accident or most multiple

25:23

vehicles and even death so, they're

25:26

aware. Of what's

25:28

at stake every time they get into those trucks

25:30

and, you know, but I think

25:33

of the overwhelming majority of those drivers are trying to be

25:35

as safe, as. Possible and doing

25:37

it frankly on what can be very little sleep,

25:39

or interrupted sleep and

25:42

you know. they're doing it for weeks

25:45

months years on end

25:48

We are speaking with Christopher amounts, he's a columns

25:50

for the Wall Street Journal, he has new book about the

25:52

supply chain. Ships,

25:55

containers, trucks, warehouses, it's

25:57

called, Arriving Today will continue

25:59

our campus. The action in just moment this

26:01

is fresh air.

26:02

This message comes from NPR sponsor.

26:04

Inspire clean energy, Inspire

26:07

is a residential Clean Energy company. That

26:09

matches the electricity. Your home runs on

26:11

with 100% clean, renewable energy

26:14

by switching to and Inspire clean

26:16

energy plan. You can make an even bigger impact

26:19

than recycling for 7 years.

26:21

It's as easy as signing up in

26:23

minute, sign up today and get a free

26:25

month and Inspire clean energy.com

26:27

terms and conditions. Apply.

26:31

Well materials. come on container

26:33

ships them in their report by trucks

26:35

and eventually get to a warehouse of some kind where things

26:37

have to be sorted and that eventually distributed

26:40

the. U s b charger which you write about kind

26:42

of actually get its destination and Connecticut

26:45

and, you write a lot about amazon which has

26:48

A lot of huge

26:50

warehouses with really

26:53

impressive amounts of. Automation.

26:58

There. Are I think one hundred and fifteenth of

27:00

these so called fulfillment centers

27:02

in the United States, where Amazon

27:05

takes in a bunch of goods and something

27:07

from Met, you know from? All kinds of manufacturers

27:10

and suppliers and than stores them, and then is

27:12

gonna. The as consumers.

27:14

The ask for them, send them back out.

27:17

Give us sense of how these. Fulfillment

27:20

centers these warehouses functions and the

27:22

kind of automation we find their.

27:25

You. Go into this facility that

27:27

is a million square feet

27:30

so, he it feels like the size of

27:32

you know very large sports stadium,

27:36

and it is just full. Of automation,

27:38

it's miles and miles of conveyor

27:41

own, you know robots of several descriptions

27:44

and then just tons and tons of people embedded

27:47

in this system kind of gluing together

27:50

all. These you know what engineers call

27:52

islands of. automation and

27:55

you know it's just this incredibly

27:57

sophisticated process from the moment

27:59

that His arrive on the shipping docking

28:01

they have to be ingested into the warehouse

28:04

which means that human beings are scanning

28:06

each one of these items that you know you PCS code

28:08

on its and they are dropping them and

28:10

bins which are than carried by conveyor

28:13

to. human beings known as stowers

28:15

and so and stellar is standing at standing station

28:18

they're doing it for And hours day

28:20

with couple of breaks all,

28:22

know that person does is these

28:24

been full of goods arrive on

28:26

one side one conveyor They're.

28:29

grabbing their goods and their stuffing

28:32

them into these hall soft

28:34

sided shelves, which are

28:36

themselves on top of robots,

28:39

and the software that manages

28:42

is warehouse knows where every single

28:44

item. Has been placed in

28:46

any of those cells or top any of those drive

28:49

units so when you order an item

28:51

would say it's hairbrush or something within,

28:54

forty five. Minutes, one

28:56

of these robots show that previously

28:58

had that item put on it in own and could be as little

29:00

as days or days week, ago drives

29:03

up. To another human it's during

29:05

that whole process and rivers

29:07

and that person's color picker and

29:10

he was something pops up on screen and. it's like grab

29:13

this hairbrush which is on This

29:16

shells on,

29:18

this drive unit that has just

29:20

been driven up to you and so they're reaching

29:23

in really quickly The digging at him

29:25

out and just as quickly dropping it into yellow

29:28

been which then is carried away on conveyor

29:30

and that is the heart of these automated

29:33

warehouses it's this

29:36

symphony of humans.

29:39

working matters alongside machines but Really.

29:42

Intimately with them and so

29:44

that means, of course, that the human as to

29:46

work at the pace of the machine, and this

29:48

is why we hear so many reports about

29:50

people. Getting repetitive stress injuries and these

29:52

jobs and high turnover

29:55

and workers trying to unionize I'm,

29:57

because,. the pace

29:59

is Hated by software and

30:02

any individual store or picker

30:04

can be said items at

30:06

whatever rate the machinery is.

30:09

capable

30:11

What? The rate is something that humans decide

30:14

and me that the software doesn't decide that and

30:16

you, know when you were describing this you were saying that in order

30:18

not to. Be written of the standard is

30:20

you have to be faster than the bottom twenty

30:22

five percent, of

30:25

the workers doing their jobs and right

30:27

Yes and that is it was a floating rate

30:29

breaks of going to change day to day right.

30:32

but i guess that what troubles me about that is the essential

30:34

you're saying that by definition one

30:37

out of four of the workers is always

30:39

under perform In

30:41

there being told it.

30:43

And so they're never going to try to speed up so I

30:45

would just tend to create. this

30:47

constant pressure to speed up

30:49

if you want to keep the job The

30:51

just so happens.

30:52

Growling. And, we may have turnover

30:54

about one hundred percent at these warehouses

30:57

typically, which means that

30:59

you, know on resembles workers on

31:01

average are gonna be gone after one. Year, I'm

31:03

so are there enough

31:06

people for them to continue hiring, I mean

31:08

that's one reason that they have instituted

31:10

these three thousand dollar hiring bonuses

31:12

thousand now, you know? wages are going

31:14

up to at least eighteen dollars an hour for,

31:16

these Amazon workers in the warehouses

31:19

that attracts lot of people sometimes it even

31:21

attracts people. to come back seasonally but

31:23

that's been amazon's approach rather than

31:26

changing the piece of work

31:27

You know, one of the most interesting parts of the book I thought was

31:30

your description of a ride along you did

31:32

with U. P. S. driver, woman who

31:34

had been doing it for thirty one years.

31:38

That most experienced like.

31:41

Who? Is really interesting to ride along with Jenny

31:43

rosato because see as in

31:45

more than three decades of experience and,

31:48

she's older than I am and

31:51

I'm not completely out of. Shape of mean run like anybody

31:53

else but I'd sit at desk most with eggs

31:55

and two or three hours

31:57

into. just her

32:00

Then. Way of delivering packages

32:02

which did with her, was already

32:04

feeling pain in my knees and aches and

32:06

different places and she was of laughing, mean, she's

32:08

like you. Gotta use the techniques to

32:11

like here's a handbook spurs exactly

32:14

the, right way to open

32:16

the door in the back of his truck and take the steps

32:18

down, to. The door and

32:20

as we should be thinking of when you're walking up to the, door

32:23

and for somebody like this, it's this military

32:26

precision he apparently just to

32:28

preserve of. Their

32:30

bodies these drivers and mean they really describe

32:32

themselves as,. industrial athletes and

32:35

they are there they have to be

32:38

in good shape and ordered use day

32:40

after day consistently

32:42

Right and end, the company

32:44

does a lot of training and, as you said, that they

32:46

have this very specific rules

32:48

for how to do everything. She

32:51

stated his job long time, "It's not

32:53

like" People flee so quickly,

32:56

what's the difference between this and some other companies?

32:59

Will. You be yes, he know, is a

33:01

much older company and

33:03

all their drivers belong to the Teamsters

33:06

Union and the interesting thing about

33:08

you be as is, of course, that. Company has thrived

33:11

throughout the pandemic and they're certainly

33:13

seems to be something to be said for having

33:16

that kind of unionized workforce where,

33:19

the company is continually reinvesting

33:22

the workers the workers are very loyal

33:24

and they just learn how to do their

33:26

jobs better and better and says

33:28

they learned their roots they learn their customers

33:31

and that's how they are able to pay much

33:33

higher wages than these small

33:35

delivery companies which are sub contracted by amazon

33:38

or by side acts were the model is more

33:41

would think somebody who has less experience with drive

33:43

them really hard maybe they stick around maybe they

33:45

don't we can always hire somebody else

33:48

Looking at kind of the whole supply chain, the mean you

33:50

get the feeling that what you're describing is a process

33:52

that you know that is typical of industrial

33:54

capitalism right I'm in competition

33:57

dries companies to innovate so that they can

33:59

cut costs. Be more effective and and,

34:02

now with all of this modern technology

34:04

and especially with the ability to monitor everything

34:07

I mean it's just really effective at moving

34:09

huge amounts of stuff cheaply

34:11

which is great for consumers but.

34:15

It seems like a, you know, tends to depress workers'

34:17

compensation and grind them down physically

34:20

unless they have union protection

34:22

or. Strong government

34:24

regulation. How

34:26

we doing in these categories?

34:29

Well, I that one thing learned in

34:31

during this Book of Eli, Man, technology writer. My focus

34:33

is always on, you know, what? It's what's the soccer

34:35

in the automation doing to humans and

34:37

vice versa. What really discovered

34:40

was that so much of the way

34:42

this technology gets employed comes

34:45

down to. Well. What's the of

34:47

labor laws in the United States, you know, and frankly

34:49

those have been rotated

34:52

a great deal over the past. Few decades is

34:54

one reason that it's so hard for Amazon

34:56

workers or Walmart

34:58

workers or until recently Starbucks

35:00

workers to unionize. of gain

35:03

more control over the circumstances

35:05

of their work. I their think that a little

35:07

bit more. Power has returned to workers lately

35:09

because we have huge labor Crunch

35:11

and this also explains why

35:14

we have, you know, so much information right

35:16

now, fundamentally cost

35:19

more because it's harder to get to us. And

35:22

Supply chains are really made out

35:24

of people. As much automation is there is in there,

35:26

if you don't have the people to run all

35:28

of that automation. and to work alongside it you

35:30

cannot move those goods quickly enough

35:33

or in sufficient quantities and their price. goes

35:35

up let's just talk

35:37

little bit about the disruptions that we've seen since

35:39

the pandemic this is

35:41

A big, complicated subject, but I'm

35:43

sure you follow on it, I mean, these problems

35:45

are going to be with us for a while these.

35:47

I think that the supply chain problems

35:50

we're having now which are at the root

35:52

of current inflation are.

35:54

going to persist for a long

35:56

time and part of that is

35:58

because we just have more Demand for goods

36:01

and that seems to be be,

36:03

you know persistent and part

36:05

of that is because we're just ordering more stuff online

36:07

and we're ordering more stuff and in different ways to

36:09

ecommerce. of The

36:12

other part of it is that we live

36:14

in world now, where it's not just bow.

36:17

Downing. Street oh this

36:19

new dismissed because Delta

36:22

know McConnell, the rest kind of swamp

36:24

advice there has been

36:26

all kinds of disasters, natural disasters

36:29

be extreme weather political issues,

36:31

which has. Shut down ports and factories all

36:33

over the world of your Malaysia got

36:36

shut down and this is key

36:38

link in the global semiconductor supply

36:40

chain because, of coded

36:42

that. Was months ago, well, lot

36:45

of those facilities have been shut down again because of severe

36:47

flooding Malaysia, so what happens

36:49

is the single points of failure can get hit.

36:52

By all kinds of disasters and

36:54

then you wake up tomorrow and. unexpectedly

36:57

lumber prices are really high or you to get

36:59

new car biggest one microchip was

37:01

missing so i think that these intermittent

37:03

kind of outages are going

37:06

to persist for a very

37:08

long time it's kind of just the nature of global supply

37:10

chains Christopher,

37:12

mims thanks so much for speaking with us. Then

37:15

you so much for having me.

37:16

Mr. Premiums is a science and technology

37:18

columnist for the Wall Street Journal, his

37:21

new book is arriving today from factory

37:23

to front door why everything has changed

37:26

about how and what we. By coming,

37:29

up we remember pioneering evolutionary

37:31

biologist Edward Oh Wilson. this

37:33

is fresh air

37:35

This. "Message comes from NPR sponsor:

37:37

inspire Clean Energy: inspire

37:39

is a residential clean energy company that

37:42

matches the electricity your home runs

37:44

on with one hundred percent clean renewable

37:46

energy by. Switching to and inspire

37:48

clean energy plan, you can make an even

37:50

bigger impact than recycling for seventy

37:53

years, it's as easy as signing

37:55

up in minutes, sign up today and

37:57

get. One free month at inspire clean

37:59

energy. Calm herms and conditions

38:01

apply.

38:03

Edward oh wilson a pioneer in the field

38:05

of evolutionary biology and staunch

38:07

conservation advocate, died

38:09

Sunday in Burlington, Massachusetts, the

38:11

day after Christmas. It was ninety two

38:14

Wilson, did extensive research on Ants

38:17

he develops original ideas on the evolution

38:20

of behavior exploring how natural

38:22

selection could influence the development of

38:24

the complex cooperation he observed

38:26

in Ant colonies. wilson was

38:29

professor at harvard and at prolific writer

38:31

two of his books one pulitzer prizes

38:34

terry spoke to wilson and ninety four

38:36

after the publication of his book journey

38:38

to the ants

38:40

The new book, Journey to The, and you have

38:42

these fantastic us blown

38:45

up. Photographs of

38:47

ants is low and slow. I

38:49

just under a microscope in as you enlarge them

38:52

thousands of. times

38:54

and in these and large photographs the as

38:57

Look lot. The me anyway like

38:59

dinosaurs on.

39:01

they have dinosaur typefaces dinosaur their little

39:04

and ten i look like horns coming out of the head

39:08

Then. Why prehistoric

39:12

to me and inside the and stayed

39:14

back to the dinosaur euro

39:16

so he is? That

39:19

why they look the way they do.

39:21

Well. Not just there's not a great age

39:23

I think it's a fact that they have external

39:26

skeletons ah, we

39:28

are typical mammals

39:31

in that we have an internal skeleton

39:33

in. Our

39:36

room tissues right

39:38

out to our sins or skin

39:40

or added like padding on to that internal

39:42

skeletal structure, but insects,

39:45

including ants, have the other way around

39:47

I have a. Skeleton on the outside and

39:49

they have all it's soft tissue on the, inside

39:52

ants to are blown to an evolutionary

39:54

line that diverge your own

39:57

half a billion. years ago ah

39:59

and The achieved the,

40:02

in numerous adaptations

40:04

to the world including their social

40:07

organization in way that so radically

40:10

different from our own so look at them.

40:12

or as saw inhabitants is

40:14

he will as another planet and this

40:17

planet difference in cluj The

40:20

to come quickly to the point of what

40:22

I see and them as a scientist of works

40:24

on them. The includes. They're

40:27

near total reliance on chemical communication

40:30

and, here they are really radically different from

40:32

us we are audiovisual creatures

40:34

we should realize. that our

40:36

dependence on sound and site

40:39

The get through the world and to communicate with one another.

40:42

It really rather exceptional in the animal world

40:44

and the answer much were typical and being chemical

40:47

that. is to say They release.

40:50

substances Chemicals

40:52

secretions from all over their bodies

40:55

are, they have special glands are to

40:58

for this purpose. that then they

41:00

passed back and forth The taste

41:03

they smell and is with different

41:05

chemicals. That they actually

41:08

are able to communicate with one another rapidly

41:10

and, and of sophisticated matter, for example,

41:12

Sarah chemicals they released

41:15

to alarm one another, saying there is an

41:17

enemy there.

41:18

You did an experiment on the chemical and

41:20

gives off when the and has died that

41:22

communicate to the other answers that

41:25

the AS is dead and needs to be carried out

41:27

of the. it the ant

41:29

nest

41:30

The money from him one an answer

41:32

guys who it's term just.

41:35

like any other dead thing at the it crumbles

41:37

up and may be lying on his back but it's not have

41:39

noticed by the other and rushing by

41:41

it's inside the nests ah as

41:44

we would notice Because we're visual.

41:47

The the ants in the nest

41:49

wait. The until. The

41:52

corpse begins to decay and after

41:54

two or three days. It's full

41:56

of substances, sad Har.

42:00

Find in a corpse you, know all of these

42:02

unpleasant things like try metal mean

42:04

and, and thus skate whole

42:06

and as fatty acids and so. on

42:09

and it occurred to me this we're talking back

42:11

in the fifties during the early days of

42:13

working out the chemical language of and It

42:16

occurred to me that I answer. Probably

42:19

having small brains. The

42:22

not being able to process very much

42:24

information. The pen did

42:26

not on all an array of of,

42:29

or charnel House, smells

42:32

but probably zero in

42:34

on a distinctive smell and so it. proved

42:37

it That though the since

42:39

synthetic forum many of the chemicals

42:41

that are found and corpses my, laboratory

42:45

was unbearable to visit for weeks

42:47

to remove experiment, and

42:49

I tried them one out of after the other

42:51

and, no answer and. a laboratory

42:54

and finally hit upon the astonishing discovery

42:57

That indeed, ants identify

43:00

corpse with oleic acid

43:03

when you dob oleic acid.

43:06

Earlier, gas it. A. Piece of paper

43:08

or alive and from that nest,

43:11

the treated as corpse, and I amuse

43:13

myself and students for years afterward by

43:15

you are putting us a lake acid

43:17

on. Live and send and watching

43:19

them be picked up by their nest,

43:22

Matanuska carried out and

43:24

dumped on the refuse power corpses of places

43:26

in the and said the core said pick.

43:29

themselves up and try to clean themselves often

43:31

get back into work and tried the nest, but if I

43:33

didn't get enough of that oleic acid

43:35

off or then are they would" Be

43:37

picked up and dumped on the corpse pile again

43:39

and as kept on your finally they got clean enough

43:41

to have or. to rejoin

43:44

the living on some sort of the night of a living

43:46

there to assist

43:47

A were you able to analyze whether

43:50

the living dead and could do anything

43:52

to protest being carried off?

43:55

Nothing whatsoever because you see there's

43:57

nothing in the natural world that adds.

44:00

Something. Like oleic acid to the bottle

44:02

of amp and lance, or

44:04

magnificently programmed to

44:06

do certain things

44:08

with great efficiency and speed, but

44:11

there are many things are not programmed

44:13

to do. Because others never been

44:15

any occasion in their evolution for them to

44:17

do it.

44:18

What would happen to the world is if all

44:20

the and for to magically disappear.

44:24

Ah terrible things let me preface

44:28

my. response by saying

44:30

that some Of

44:34

course we.

44:36

will do everything in our power to save

44:39

The human species of that is

44:41

that entire, meaning of

44:43

our of our own lives. but

44:45

if the human species were to disappear

44:48

from the earth The

44:50

Earth would go on. The and

44:52

perturbed in fact ecosystems,

44:54

the world would regain their

44:56

previous equilibrium and

44:58

far shorter some great meteorite

45:01

strike cause planet could count

45:03

on another billion years or so of,. undisturbed

45:07

evolution of midst great

45:10

biological diversity but if

45:12

ants these whittles despise

45:14

creatures in our feet were to disappear

45:17

Because they are such a vital

45:19

parts of the ecosystem.

45:21

Would show the turning of the soil

45:23

in the removal of dead animals

45:25

in the predation owed on an emerald

45:28

and so on our. is vital

45:30

They were removed then.

45:33

Then. We would see a partial collapse

45:35

of ecosystems on the land, probably

45:38

many thousands of other species

45:40

would become extinct soon afterward many

45:43

plants would go extinct

45:45

and ah so on there. , be a major

45:47

reorganization anna the popularization,

45:50

of the land ecosystems the world

45:53

would. suffer or if had lost

45:55

and important group my pants

45:57

Biologist Edward A. Wilson speaking

45:59

with.

46:00

The grows and nineteen ninety four Wilson

46:02

died the day after Christmas, he was

46:04

ninety two. On. Tomorrow,

46:06

so we talk about one of America's most popular

46:09

conservative commentators, talk

46:11

radio host Damn Bungie Know and

46:13

how he's trying to build a right wing media

46:15

infrastructure in time for. The midterm

46:17

elections are guess we'll be Evan

46:19

Osnos to profiles Bungie know in

46:21

the current issue of the New Yorker I

46:24

hope you can join us on,.

46:27

our technical director an engineer is audrey bentham

46:30

or interviews and reviews are produced an edited

46:33

by amy salad phyllis myers sam

46:35

rigor lauren friends rigor heidi some on

46:37

teresa madden anne marie maldonado

46:39

they marie challenge are upset kelly and kayla

46:42

latimer for british rock directs

46:44

the show for terry gross i'm

46:46

dave davies

46:48

During the pandemic a lot of people got

46:50

dogs including me what's

46:52

that many you are hungry for an economics

46:55

podcast you. say you want compelling

46:57

stories filled with economic insight but none

47:00

of the The Oregon? Well, then listen

47:02

to the Planet Money Podcast from NPR

47:05

because we all look the. Best for us.