Simple solution to solve the supply chain issue ???

[KS Toronado]

Last edited Fri Nov 12, 2021, 12:52 PM - Edit history (1)

Could the White House call up National Guardsmen and/or Reservists with CDLs to help out major trucking
companies who are currently short handed. There's probably members in all our military branches that
have CDLs or could operate cranes at our ports. We could even give these under staffed companies the
help for free as an incentive to play along until they get their labor shortages fixed. Also the companies
should pay for room & board as necessary. We could keep this up until there's no backlog of ships waiting
to unload. Might make Biden/Democrats look like heros.



On edit ....for all you half empty glass people, yes there will be a lot of logistics to figure out but there's
a solution to every problem ever encountered by man, that's why we gave our President EOs to use
as he/she sees fit. Lets see if we can get our elected officials to at least discuss putting our service
members to good use solving the supply chain issue. There's nothing to lose discussing ideas.

[MichMan]

1. Wouldn't nearly all reservists with a CDL already be working driving trucks somewhere?

Are you suggesting those trucks be parked to move the reservists across the country to drive other trucks?

[KS Toronado]

4. There are thousands & thousands of people with CDLs

in this country who don't drive for a living, most keep their license current when working other jobs in
case they need to fall back on trucking. Those who have let their license expire would not take much
to get reinstated. With all our service members we should be able to find enough manpower to solve
the supply chain issue facing this country. My glass is half full.

[sarisataka]

5. Having been cross attached

To a NG transportation unit, you are correct. The majority of those with CDLs have jobs as OTR drivers.

[global1]

2. Love This - How Do You Get This Message To The White House?....

This is thinking out of the box and a great solution.

This idea needs to get to Biden.

Great use of our NG.

K&R

[Tetrachloride]

3. I disagree. Worker Training, Safety, Management Manners and Wages

and Industry cooperation.

Example: truck unloading. Some times the truck driver has to unload a truck themselves. Long haul truckers need rest, not exercise.

Some warehouses make a driver wait. There’s an awful lot of miscommunication and sudden burdens.

Truck maintenance is a biggy. Truck
companies like to do anything they can to get rid of a mechanical lemon.

To sum up, Secretary Pete should take some steps. Quite a few.

Fairness includes taxing Bezos.

Military people are going to be needed elsewhere.

[KS Toronado]

11. Great thing about Democrats is that we can

agree & disagree until we we reach a solution agreement on an issue. I agree there will be a lot of
logistics to be worked out and that's why we pay our elected officials big bucks. I'm willing to discuss
any better idea you may have to get the supply chain working.

[MichMan]

6. Federal, State & Local government employees could also be utilized temporarily

Those with a CDL could drive, and others could be assigned to unload trucks and perform a myriad of other non driving jobs. Also a lot of retirees could be recruited if limits on taxing SS income were waived

[KS Toronado]

20. Thank you for thinking outside the box

also for having your glass half full.

[Yarnie]

7. Just off the top of my head...

a lot of the trucking companies are union. Would that violate the union contracts?

[MichMan]

10. Could the President issue an EO temporarily waiving any of those types of union restrictions ?

[sarisataka]

8. Where is the main choke point?

Is it a lack of trucks or at the docks?

100,000 trucks don't solve the problem if they are waiting on the ships to unload.

[Homoudont]

15. Chassis Shortage

I am no longer in the trucking industry but talking with friends still in the industry there is a major Chassis shortage nationwide. Containers require a specialized container chassis knows as a intermodal Chassis. You can have all the trucks and truck drivers in the world but without this special equipement it can't be moved.

So calling up the national guard and getting more trucks into CA will only solve part of the problem and likely not alleviate the problem since the bottleneck would be with equipment.

[sarisataka]

22. This is a more difficult problem

Last edited Fri Nov 12, 2021, 01:20 PM - Edit history (1)

Throwing bodies at it won't help. You can throw Monday it to build more units but that will take time.

My first thought is to look for efficiencies. Trucks are not efficient, one vehicle and one driver can move 1-3 containers. A train crew of 3 can move a couple hundred.

Rather than trucking, look what rail can do to add trains. Unfortunately we have allowed our rail infrastructure to lapse greatly so it may be we lack tracks to run more trains

ETA> if rail can be expanded then that should free some truck capacity by letting them take shorter but more frequent trips from the railhead to local customers

[fescuerescue]

9. There's no labor shortage at the cranes

That's a $200,000 a year job mind you.

Plus the longshoremen might have a thing or two to say about the government competing with them on this.

[MichMan]

12. If it is a national emergency, they might not have any say about it

[fescuerescue]

19. So what are you suggesting?

Kicking career crane operators off the job and backfilling them a rifleman?

Crane operations isn't a bottle neck.

The issues are:

1) availability of port berths (where the cranes sit)
2) Trucks into the ports. (especially California since they have some interesting rules over which trucks are allowed in)

Nothing can be done about port Berths. That's geography.

But the trucks and drivers? Yes. But it would require reversing some rules.

[Baitball Blogger]

13. kick

[panader0]

14. The Longshoreman's union is powerful and has high pay.

Would they allow others to take their jobs?
More drivers are needed. But as Americans, we have much more than people in
other nations. We are spoiled.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

16. Even if there are enough National Guardsmen and/or Reservists with CDLs,

(which I rather doubt, but have no way of knowing) are there enough extra trucks out there?

[KS Toronado]

18. From what I've read somewhere, probably on here......

The major trucking companies have lost a lot of employees on account of the pandemic. Their terminals
would be full of idle trucks & trailers because of this.

[Homoudont]

21. regular trailers won't work

A regular flatbed trailer won't work when moving shipping containers. you need a intermodal chassis and right now there is a shortage of them in the industry. They can't build them fast enough right now. I've heard its faster to go the chassis graveyard and repair the broken ones then get a new one on order.

[KS Toronado]

24. Welcome to DU!

Most shipping containers are unloaded at the ports and returned to the cargo ships so they can be refilled
overseas again. Trucking companies had all the trucks & trailers they needed before the pandemic so they
should still have them sitting around unused.

[Sogo]

28. I saw a headline recently that trucking companies have

72,000 drivers who can't pass the drug screening test, so there's that....

[KY_EnviroGuy]

17. In a truly moral world, America would simply reduce consumption.

That also helps control climate change and reduces dependence on China and other nations dependent on our out of control consumerism. Also reduces energy usage and waste of natural resources (trees, oil, metals, minerals, etc.).

(old-fashioned) KY......

[Captain Stern]

23. I don't think this is a particularly good idea.

First of all, reservists with CDL's already have the freedom to use their CDL's as they see fit. If they're using them in the private world, that means they already have jobs that require one. If they're not using them, then they don't want to, and they probably still have a job, that we'd be taking them away from.

Why stop with reservists and national guard folks? Why not draft anyone with a CDL into the military, then make them work for private companies?

Of course, that idea is even worse, but the principal is the same.

[lame54]

25. Open the cargo bays and...

Have the world's biggest yard sale

[SWBTATTReg]

26. Maybe w/ time, these shortages, supply disruptions, etc. will solve themselves of their own accord.

After all, they say that disruptions are being caused by a huge increase in American consumer demands for goods, after the COVID pandemic that hit the world/US and still in, in those areas that didn't mask up or vaccinate themselves as well as they should have. Of course businesses already have a vested interest (a huge vested interest) in getting products to paying consumers, and of course consumers want the goods they want, e.g., for upcoming Xmas holidays, for filling the backlog of goods after COVID restrictions. Maybe in extreme examples, government can intercede but I kind of doubt that the expertise can be developed quickly enough to really make a difference. Companies are (some are) making attempts to address the issues by chartering their own shipping for their goods too.

[fescuerescue]

27. I don't think there is a simple solution

If there were, Biden would have already done it.

But we can take comfort in knowing that if anyone else was in the Whitehouse, the problem would be worse.