Truckers, port workers vent as supply chain frustration mounts: 'A lot of us are willing to work'

Yahoo Finance via msn ^ | 26 October 2021 | Dani Romero

[blueplum]

The great global supply chain crisis of 2021 — which has ensnared groceries, holiday shopping and everything in between — has bottlenecked West Coast ports, and drawn the involvement of the White House to address it.

As the disruption reaches a boiling point and adds to rising price pressures, longshoremen, union representatives and truck drivers have pointed fingers over which party is best positioned to alleviate some of the strains....

...While the pandemic has exacerbated strains in the economy amid an unprecedented demand surge, a 2019 study published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics probed the dearth of truckers. And it arrived at a surprising conclusion: “there is no driver shortage in the trucking industry.”

....Executive Director of the Port of Long Beach, Mario Cordero, told Yahoo Finance Live that Long Beach implemented a 24/7 pilot program at one of their terminals “weeks ago.”

However, truckers like Rameriz hasn’t seen any changes. “I don’t know anybody that is working 24/7,” he explained to Yahoo Finance. “If there was work, we [would] be working 24/7.”...

[blueplum]

ancedotal commentary: there is allegedly only one crane working at Long Beach out of three. That points to the union not training. Warehouses taking in excess loads prior to distribution are being ticketed by police for staging trailers outside their facilities on public roads. There are more regs that deal with road weight limits - Newsom has asked a committee to look into alternate routes. Truckers are reporting being turned away with no load after waiting in line for hours.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

There was a video a couple weeks ago showing NONE of the seven cranes at the Port of Tacoma working for an entire day. Truck tractors, trailers, and drivers were lined up all day waiting for loads.

[Col Frank Slade]

LETS GO BRANDON

[Qui is]

This is a manufactured crises.

[lightman]

Before we blame “union thuggery” consider that these roughnecks realize that the west coast ports are clogged with Chinese junk that has stolen American manufacturing jobs.

They don’t want to aid and abet our economic enemy.

[Mount Athos]

This crisis is intentional.

To make oligarchs rich? To wreck the USA for a great reset so they can “build back better?”

Probably both.

Can’t use trucks more than 3 years old to pick up containers at California ports

Owner/operator trucks totally banned from this work

Must have California emissions

Insane!

[BenLurkin]

bttt

[SaveFerris]

Sure seems that way 🤔

[McGavin999]

Its pretty obvious what they intended with all this, but the unintended consequences may just wreak all their plans.

We need to move manufacturing back to the USA, medicine needs to be made again here and in PR, everything on those ships can be made here. We still need some imports but we would do just fine buying stuff made here.

[Jamestown1630]

And they had no problem with ‘Chinese junk’ until relatively recently?

We’ve been buying Chinese junk for decades - and they’ve been transporting it.

[conservativeimage]

Me quitting container hauling in anticipation of this a few months ago:

"Eff this noise, man."

[yesthatjallen]

You can read a first-hand account twitter thread about the problems at our ports:

"Yesterday I rented a boat and took the leader of one of Flexport's partners in Long Beach on a 3 hour [tour] of the port complex. Here's a thread about what I learned."

Typesfast Twitter

[Navy Patriot]

Truckers, port workers vent as supply chain frustration mounts: 'A lot of us are willing to work'

This is one of the rare times when Unions and Workers, if they wish to save America, must to be willing to Strike and strike hard and long.

[NonValueAdded]

Right now if you have a chassis with no empty container on it, you can go pick up containers at any port terminal. However, if you have an empty container on that chassis, they’re not allowing you to return it except on highly restricted basis.
Ryan Petersen
@typesfast
·
Oct 22
If you can’t get the empty off the chassis, you don’t have a chassis to go pick up the next container. And if nobody goes to pick up the next container, the port remains jammed.

[Qui is]

Yes, indeed.

Truckers are ready, willing and able to start hauling trailers. The Gov. has issued qn executive order allowing the ports, dockworkers/longshoremen, crane operators and truckers to work 24/7, BUT according to the truckers they are lined up and waiting but the port won’t give them anything to haul.

We are being played. The last 2 years have been the greatest scam ever perpetuated. People need to be held accountable for this.

[NonValueAdded]

That’s the cruz of it. Rail should be the solution.Bur they’re too busy building the train from nowhere to nowhere.

[blueplum]

We can make tons of things here and cheaply if widespread robotics is employed in manufacturing instead of $15-$30/hr human workers. Otherwise, things will get costly fast.

[Jamestown1630]

I think you are correct about the ‘the unintended consequences’ -

But who are ‘THEY’?

I don’t believe the majority of Democrats in this country have been thinking at all. I don’t think they care about anything except their ideology their self-congratulation over same, and their belief that it will get them votes. They don’t understand how anything actually WORKS.

All you have to do is watch Jen Psaki floundering while trying to spin everything and never saying an honest word, to understand that nobody in the White House has a clue about reality. Even they aren’t in any control.

So, who really is it that’s screwing us?

[McGavin999]

Yes but think that through. If people are working instead of on welfare there is more money to buy stuff. If things cost more but are made better they last longer.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]