John Porcari

White House taps retired general to be new port czar

Container ship leaving Port of Los Angeles

Work remains for the Biden administration’s new port envoy, Stephen Lyons, to untangle freight supply chains.

Gen. Stephen Lyons (Credit: Department of Defense)

The White House and the U.S. Department of Transportation on Friday appointed Stephen Lyons to replace John Porcari as the port and supply chain envoy for the Biden administration’s Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force.

Lyons, a retired four-star Army general, most recently led the U.S. Transportation Command, which provides cargo...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/white-house-taps-retired-general-to-be-new-port-czar

FMC considering PierPass overcharge investigation

The nation’s top international ocean shipping regulator wants to investigate whether West Coast terminal operators are taking advantage of supply chain disruptions by gouging shippers on rates charged for off-peak terminal gates.

Federal Maritime Commission Chairman Daniel Maffei on Friday said he will ask for a meeting of the full commission “as soon as practicable” to consider whether the agency should launch the probe of PierPass, a nonprofit company set up in 2005 by Los Angeles and Long...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/fmc-considering-pierpass-investigation

USDA announces container subsidy — lawmakers say it’s not enough

Lawmakers leading a push to overhaul U.S. ocean shipping laws in Congress shrugged off the latest effort by the Biden administration to offset punishing costs and service shortfalls being absorbed by American agricultural exporters.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on Monday it was partnering with the Port of Oakland on a new 25-acre container staging area reserved for agriculture exports. The goal is to get quicker pickup of empty containers for refilling with products...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/usda-announces-container-subsidy-lawmakers-say-its-not-enough

White House prioritizing imports of COVID-19 rapid tests

Millions of at-home rapid test kits for COVID-19 are being prioritized by ocean carriers, terminal operators, trucks and trains as the surge in positive tests for the fast-moving omicron variant has boosted demand for the product.

The initiative is being coordinated by the Biden administration’s Port Disruptions and COVID-19 task forces, revealed John Porcari, the administration’s port envoy, when asked during a White House briefing on Wednesday about shortages of rapid tests throughout the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/white-house-prioritizing-imports-of-covid-19-rapid-tests

Feds to provide $230 million to speed cargo through ports

Despite reports to the contrary, shelves are stocked for the holidays.

That was the message hammered home on Wednesday, three days before Christmas, by President Joe Biden’s Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force.

“We’re making real and sustained progress at the ports — there’s increased fluidity and velocity in the goods movement,” John Porcari, the task force’s port envoy, told the president and other meeting attendees at the White House. Container dwell times at the ports of Los Angeles and Long...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/feds-to-provide-230-million-to-speed-cargo-through-ports

White House port envoy details strategy for supply chain fluidity

Multicolor containers stacked on ground and on a freight train.

The response to the supply chain crisis at ports was disjointed until the White House got involved, says port envoy John Porcari. 

In a lengthy interview on the Bloomberg podcast “Odd Lots,” the supply chain czar said the Biden administration is acting as an honest broker to get cooperation from industry and local jurisdictions that usually act in their own self-interest, using carrots and sticks to make small improvements while building toward more systemic improvements.

“These are parts of the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/white-house-port-envoy-lays-out-channels-to-supply-chain-fluidity

Analysis: Fixing port congestion takes politics and patience

Mullticolored containers on dock with a shuttle truck.

A flurry of government activity to alleviate crippling port congestion and its economic ripple effects is more likely to have long-term value in structurally changing a broken system than quickly reducing the cargo crunch in time for Christmas.

Many supply chain initiatives and rules aimed at the ports are being pushed, or implemented, by the U.S. government despite the global freight transportation system being mostly owned and operated by the private sector.

The gridlock triggered by the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/analysis-fixing-port-congestion-takes-politics-and-patience

How fast can LA clear out its ships?

Now that the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have moved to 24/7 operations, pressure is mounting to reduce the backlog of ships at anchor in San Pedro Bay.

But more coordination will be required among the links in the Southern California supply chain before that can happen. And with 25 more containerships filled with holiday inventory from Asia scheduled to anchor within the next three days, results have to come fast.

As part of the ports’ new 24/7 operating plan, instead of waiting for cargo...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/how-fast-can-la-clear-out-its-ships

Biden to meet with ports, labor on supply chain bottlenecks

President Joe Biden plans to meet with leadership at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) on Wednesday to discuss supply chain challenges “and actions each partner can take to address these delays,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed.

“One of the challenges we’re having is the delay of goods getting through to our ports — that’s one of the bottlenecks in the supply chain,” Psaki said at a press conference on Tuesday....

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/biden-to-meet-with-ports-labor-on-supply-chain-bottlenecks

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