White House moves to aid struggling supply chains
By Abby Caplan
The White House has issued new steps toward revitalizing strained supply chains, including adding resilience to freight networks and manufacturing operations.
"Outdated infrastructure and the Covid-19 pandemic have strained the capacity of the entire goods movement supply chain, resulting in unprecedented snarls in global freight and logistics supply chains," the White House said yesterday as it laid out a number of steps to build long-term resilience to supply chain networks.
Among the measures, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) has created a $450mn grant program focused on US ports. Money will go towards making infrastructure upgrades, constructing new berths, restoring docks and extending rail lines. The money was authorized under the bipartisan infrastructure law, signed into law last November.
DOT is also continuing its efforts at recruiting more truck drivers and improving the quality of existing jobs to help offset the sector's low retention rate. DOT is working with the Labor Department to develop a pilot training program for truck drivers between the ages of 18-21.
Even before expected supply chain problems that are likely to result from this week's Russian invasion of Ukraine, the White House had been working to resolve transportation delays.
The White House since early last year has been targeting the situation, prompted by snarled supply chains as producers have been unable to keep up with rebounding demand in the wake of the initial Covid-19-induced slump.
The White House in June 2021 identified a number of weaknesses in the s
