Biden vows to address supply chain bottlenecks, pain felt on both coasts

As the holiday season approaches, it does not appear the supply chain bottlenecks the United States is currently experiencing will dissipate soon. On Wednesday, President Joe Biden discussed the steps his administration is taking to address the issues, including elaborating on the agreement the White House had announced earlier in the day regarding the Port of Los Angeles moving to a 24-hour-per-day, 7-day-per-week operational schedule.

“This is a big first step in speeding up the movement of materials and goods through our supply chain,” President Biden said. “But now we need the rest of the private sector chain to step up as well. This is not called a supply chain for nothing.”

The last part of that quote is a reference to companies like Walmart, FedEx and UPS agreeing to move goods during overnight hours. In addition, the Biden administration is working with state DMVs to increase Commercial Driver’s Licenses in order to get more truckers on the road.

“The bottom line, we’ve seen the cost of inaction in the pandemic and the delays in the congestion that affect every American, but it’s fully within our capacity to act to make sure it never happens again,” Biden said.

While most of Wednesday’s discussion surrounded supply chain bottlenecks on the West Coast, they can be seen on the East Coast as well. In Savannah, Georgia, nearly 80,000 containers are stacked up on the docks. Some have been sitting there for more than a month.

At her daily press briefing Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked about whether these supply chain bottlenecks will be resolved in time for the holiday shopping season, to which she said, “we cannot guarantee”.

“I’m not going to make a prediction of that from here,” Psaki said in response to a question about whether supply chain bottlenecks will get worse. “We know there are a number of issues that impact the supply chain, and I don’t want to make a prediction because it’s not just one issue.”