The Biden Administration announced a series of steps in the private and public sectors to help address the continuing supply chain crisis in the U.S. Forbes says the White House actions are intended to help goods move faster and strengthen the resiliency of American supply chains. Operations at the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles are moving to 24/7 operations. Those two spots take in about 40 percent of all the containers coming into the U.S. and are on track to reach record import numbers in 2021.
Biden says this is an across-the-board commitment to going to 24/7. The president says, “It’s a first big step in speeding up the movement of materials and goods through our supply chain. But now we need the rest of the private sector chain to step up as well.” Biden also says strengthening our supply chains will continue to be his team’s focus, and if federal support is necessary, he’ll direct them to take all appropriate actions.
In addition to the expanded hours, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union workers are willing to work extra shifts to help. Large companies like Walmart, UPS, FedEx, Home Depot, and Target have committed more hours to moving cargo off the docks faster so ships can come ashore.
The National Association of Farm Broadcasting and the American Farm Bureau Federation contributed to this report.