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Opinion
Brooke Sutherland

2021 Was the Year of Supply Chains. Get Ready for the Sequel.

Shipping congestion is improving on some fronts, but consumers just keep spending and long-term infrastructure overhauls take time. Plus, Boeing’s 787 woes weigh on international travel schedules, and the deals of the week. 

The bottlenecks on docks are improving.

The bottlenecks on docks are improving.

Photographer: Mario Tama/Getty Images

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From container-ship pileups at West Coast ports to the Ever Given’s viral weeklong blockage of the Suez Canal to shortages ranging from the quirky (cream cheese) to the catastrophic (semiconductors), the supply chain has never been as top of mind as it was in 2021. Case in point: The best-performing industrial stock on the S&P 500 as of Friday was Old Dominion Freight Line Inc., a provider of less-than-truckload logistics services.