Lauren Moye, FISM NEWS
A coalition of fifteen Republican governors has announced their plan to address the supply chain bottle-neck that is causing national shortages. The governors announced “Operation Open Roads” in a letter to President Joe Biden sent on Nov. 22.
The letter was signed by Bill Lee (Ala.), Doug Ducey (Ariz.), Ron DeSantis (Fla.), Brian Kemp (Ga.), Brad Little (Idaho), Kim Reynolds (Iowa), Larry Hogan (Md.), Mike Parson (Mo.), Greg Gianforte (Mont.), Pete Ricketts (Neb.), Doug Burgum (N.D.), Mike DeWine (Ohio), Kevin Stitt (Okla.), Henry McMaster (S.C.), and Greg Abbott (Texas).
“As we approach the holiday season, our states are committed to ensuring the free and fast flow of commerce,” the letter opens, before striking a condemning tone towards Biden’s leadership.
The coalition continued, “Americans enjoy a high quality of life, and as government officials, our job is to not only maintain the standard of living for our citizens but to improve it. Getting goods to market is a fundamental baseline of our open economy, and under the Biden Administration, the American supply chain is in crisis.”
The American Trucking Association recently announced that there is now a shortage of 80,000 truck drivers, adding statistics that give weight to the states’ complaints. The governors cited “increased regulation and rulemaking authority” as key players in creating this shortage, specifically calling out Biden’s mandatory vaccination policies.
Additionally, rising gas prices impact shipping costs while inflation under the Biden administration contributes to an overall increase in the price of goods. The governors called out the impact by writing, “With more paychecks at risk, American families are forced to pay more for food, gas, and everyday goods as inflation surges to a 30-year high under President’s Biden’s watch.”
Later they added, “Once again, where the Biden Administration has failed the American people, our governors will step up to lead.”
Operation Open Road calls for states to leverage their authority to address the supply chain crisis where they can, such as increasing road time by 12 minutes a day. In fact, MIT research scientist Dr. David Correll calculated for a recent House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing that adding 18 minutes of drive-time a day would eliminate the entire driver shortage. This would be an additional 4.5% in drivetime to compensate for a 4.5% industry shortage.
The coalition also promises to do what is legally allowable to improve efficiency, such as modifying weight, size, or load restrictions or giving drivers more time and flexibility under adjusted hours of service. In addition, the governors’ plan to deregulate “education and occupational licensure barriers” to place more drivers on the road.
The biggest benefit the coalition offers, perhaps, is a promise to leverage state agencies across multiple departments to help “coordinate with private industry, local governments, and neighboring states where appropriate to ensure greater efficiency, connectivity, and data sharing among shippers and receivers” at various loading points.
This is important because detention time, or a failure to have trucks fully loaded within a specified timeframe, was identified during the transportation hearing as a contributor to the bottlenecking at the U.S. ports. Drivers who stay past the allotted duty time often shoulder the extra cost in fees, costing the industry up to $1.3 billion.
As one final plea for changes that go beyond the states’ authority to make, the coalition asked President Biden to end his vaccination mandate on private businesses and to “suspend outdated regulations” that prevent anybody younger than 21 from holding a commercial driver’s license so that “well-trained, working adults can work across state borders.”