As if the anger with international supply chains were not big enough for the economy, there are now homemade supply problems in Europe and especially in Germany.
These days, freight traffic by rail often comes to a standstill - so violently that rail operators speak of a real catastrophe.
Many transports are canceled, trains from Belgium or the Netherlands have to stop at the border because infrastructure disruptions prevent them from continuing to Germany.
That can happen.
But apparently this is a structural problem.
Infrastructure that has been neglected for decades, hundreds of construction sites at the same time, acute system malfunctions and poor traffic management - this mélange is poison for the goal of getting more goods off the road and onto the rails.
How can you convince customers to switch from trucks to trains when the performance of the rails is so bad, some railway operators ask themselves.
Highest railroad for the new transport minister to give an answer.