The White House released its plan to improve the supply chain. The administration says that the Port of Savannah, which leads the nation in ag exports, will be able to shift around $8 million dollars to create five container yards.
That would free up dock space and speed up the flow of goods. It also plans to award $240 million dollars in grants to modernize ports and marine highways.
The administration is also calling for new data standards for the movements of goods. A Washington state lawmaker says that issues with the supply chain are not new, but they are being complicated by global events.
Congressman Dan Newhouse says that the disruptions require immediate solutions, because they are impeding the flow of agricultural goods, and he says that no one political party is to blame.
“The pandemic has obviously touched countries around the globe and so some of the slowdowns, we can’t lay everything at the feet of this administration or this government, but certainly our response to the things that we do have control over in this country, I think we could have been much better strategically in how we encourage supply chains to be one as much as possible,” Newhouse explains.
He says that there is no quick fix. He is one of scores of House lawmakers to support a measure that allows drivers under the age of 21 to cross state lines, which he calls a “good place to start.”
Related:
Compounded Complications and how port logjam is affecting producers’ bottom line
Floating a Solution: fixing inland waterways may help alleviate cargo ship backlog
Biden’s Bottleneck Breakthrough: How the administration looks to get ag moving amid shipping crisis