Guest essay by Eric Worrall
Governor Gavin Newsom just signed an executive order suspending weight limits on trucks servicing Californian ports. But does this order address the real cause of the problem?
Governor Newsom Signs Executive Order to Help Tackle Supply Chain Issues
Published: Oct 20, 2021
Formalizes state agencies’ partnership with the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to address state, national and global supply chain challenges
Directs state agencies to develop longer-term proposals that support port operations and goods movement for consideration in the January 10 Governor’s Budget
SACRAMENTO – Amid global disruptions to the goods movement supply chain, Governor Gavin Newsom today signed an executive order directing state agencies to identify additional ways to alleviate congestion at California ports. The executive order builds on earlier efforts this year by the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) to ease supply chain issues by engaging the diverse network of stakeholders along the supply chain to discuss key challenges and identify short-term and long-term solutions. Record demand for imported goods combined with capacity issues across the entire supply chain have slowed distribution at ports on the California coast.
“California’s ports are critical to our local, state and national economies and the state is taking action to support goods movement in the face of global disruptions,” said Governor Newsom. “My administration will continue to work with federal, state, labor and industry partners on innovative solutions to tackle immediate challenges while also bringing our distribution processes into the 21st century.”
Today’s executive order directs state agencies to continue coordinating with the Biden-Harris Administration Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force to address state, national and global supply chain challenges. The executive order also directs the Department of Finance to work with state agencies to develop longer-term solutions that support port operations and goods movement for consideration in the January 10 Governor’s Budget, which may include port and transportation infrastructure improvements, electrification of the goods movement system from port to delivery, and workforce development.
Additionally, today’s executive order directs state agencies to identify state-owned properties and other locations that could be available to address short-term storage needs once goods are unloaded from ships; to identify priority freight routes to be considered for a temporary exemption to current gross vehicle limits to allow for trucks to carry additional goods; and to create workforce training and education programs. AB 639’s (Cervantes, 2020) implementation is also expedited through this executive order.
Earlier this year, GO-Biz launched the California Supply Chain Success Initiative, a partnership with the California State Transportation Agency, the Port of Long Beach, and the CSU Long Beach Center for International Trade and Transportation to engage the diverse network of stakeholders along the supply chain to discuss key challenges and identify creative solutions. This effort, which brought together federal, state and local leaders, is focused on both short-term and long-term steps to address port congestion, including implementing a new 24/7 environment across the supply chain, a move the state worked with the Biden-Harris Administration on, improving collaboration, and exploring policies to remove obstacles and improve the movement of goods.
A copy of the executive order signed today can be found here.
Source: https://www.gov.ca.gov/2021/10/20/governor-newsom-signs-executive-order-to-help-tackle-supply-chain-issues/
A week ago, a Facebook post by Don Helms, who owns North Idaho RV Rentals, triggered a social media storm when he blamed changes to labor laws and California’s strict environment laws for causing supply chain chaos.
So ships are piling up at Long Beach waiting to get unloaded. The port is jammed full of containers with no place to stack more. The liberal media is blaming it on the trucking industry while the nation’s store shelves are becoming bare… Well there’s more to the story. Could Gavin Newsom and California’s liberal trucking laws be the blame ?
The NEWS says the California port situation is caused by a driver shortage.
Not so fast: It is in part caused by a California Truck Ban which says all trucks must be 2011 or newer and a law called AB 5 which prohibits Owner Operators.
Traditionally the ports have been served by Owner Operators (non union). California has now banned Owner Operators.
Long term, truckers in California are not investing in new trucks because California has a law that makes them illegal in 2035. The requirement is to purchase electric trucks which do not exist.
And in the words of Paul Harvey, “Now you know the rest of the story”
BUSINESS
CARB to begin blocking certain trucks’ DMV registrations in 2020Carriers domiciled in California with trucks older than 2011 model, or using engines manufactured before 2010, will need to meet the Board’s new Truck and Bus Regulation beginning in 2020 or their vehicles will be blocked from registration with the state’s DMV, the state has said.
The new “health-based requirements” will need to be met before a driver is allowed to register his or her truck through the Department of Motor Vehicles, CARB says. A new enforcement tool used by the DMV beginning in 2020 will automatically block 2010 and older trucks from registration
Source: https://www.facebook.com/don.helms.92/posts/4716554968400743
Establishment media sources like USA Today were quick to pour scorn on the idea that emissions laws could be the cause of the USA’s widespread supply chain chaos, and insist that most of the trucks servicing California are already compliant with the new laws.
But Gavin Newsom’s latest executive order in my opinion to an extent undermines that denial. Liberating trucks to carry more freight will have a very similar effect to allowing a few more trucks to service Californian ports.
I don’t know whether Don Helms’ claims are correct, but you have to admit it would be very interesting to see whether the freight backlog could be cleared, if California Governor Gavin Newsom permanently cancelled all California specific restrictions and workplace rules which might affect trucks servicing major Californian ports.
Even if some of the rules have not been applied yet, the prospect of more red tape and higher costs would be enough to drive large numbers of truck drivers out of the Californian market. Why would any truck owner operator want to work in California, when the Newsom administration has repeatedly promised to shut their business down?
Of course I’m not expecting any genuine outbreak of common sense. A sensible environmental decision from California’s radical green administration, even in the face of a national emergency, seems as likely as the prospect of witnessing a flock of winged pigs take flight into the glorious setting sun.
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Nothing in life is simple, or as simple as people with an ax to grind want to make it sound like.
There is clearly a nationwide truck driver shortage. I see it every day here in Florida where I am managing a large construction project and we can never get enough truck drivers. There is a shortage of all kinds of labor in every segment of our economy – everybody I know in ever business I deal with is singing the same sad song of nearly impossible to get workers.
But that is not the only cause of the supply chain issue in California. Clearly CA is a very restrictive state due to their only in the nation environmental laws. Those laws clearly hae consequences, and they are exacerbating the already difficult supply chain problem.
I will note that lots of those ships that have been anchored for weeks or months outside the Port of Los Angeles are now weighing anchor, cruising over to Panama and the canal, and making for not-so backed up ports here on the east and Gulf Coasts of the US where we don’t have CA’s overweaning enviromental constraints to deal with .. that fact alone is telling. If the entire problem were global and not worse in CA, then why are the ships voting with their hulls to go elsewhere?
CARB rules the world and drives it to ruin.
An interesting followup. Union Pacific is one of two,railroads handling most of the intermodal container freight from Long Beach and LA. They moved their operation to 24/7 to support the pots move. They had almost no increase in loading. They announced today (Thursday) that the problem is lack of drayage trucks to move the containers from the port to their railhead. So the underlying cause is CARB, and Biden’s 24/7 solution is useless. Confirmed by a major player.
“An interesting followup. Union Pacific is one of two,railroads handling most of the intermodal container freight from Long Beach and LA. They moved their operation to 24/7 to support the pots move. They had almost no increase in loading.”
Isn’t this pitiful !
Apparently, moving cargo is not the top priority of those operating the port.
Biden needs to get the transportation battalions in the U.S. military to move the cargo to the Union Pacific’s loading facilities.
The railroads are reportedly increasing the length of their trains in order to move more cargo.
Hi Folks…..have you heard of ‘Just in Time’ inventory? The morons at the MBA programs came up with that strategy.
Get rid of MBA programs and you’ll have a better functioning economy. Notice that they don’t
have these port issues in the rest of the world.
Oh…heavier trucks mean….more damage to our highways…..
Just in time saves companies a lot of money.
Grocery stores don’t use just in time, but they are also having problems with empty shelves.
Most of the world uses just in time.
I remember “Just in Time” and “Inventory is Evil” and don’t forget “ISO 900”
Just in time turned out to be just to late, and Inventory is evil was the reason, and ISO 9000 meant you could make junk, but it was certified junk.
peter,
Just-in-time works fine most of the time, unless it runs into walls and barriers put up by state and federal governments! The walls against productivity put up by Commifornia are blocking goods from moving across the country, and coupled with the lack of concern from the port workers unions means that this will be a long term problem!
I wish there was ANYONE in the Bai Den Regime who was capable of fixing this situation, but the odds are that everything they try will make matters worse! Get ready for a rough patch in the voyage; the ship of state is being run onto the rocks; and whether it is intentional or not this incompetent crew must be relieved of duty!
The chance of Zhao Bai Den and Gov. Nuisance fixing this is about as good as Eric’s hope for pigs flying off into the sunset..singing!
WTF? Maybe this an opening for Amazon to completely take over the entire country
Amazon has ordered 100,000 new electric delivery trucks from Rivian. Obviously, they plan to compete with USPS, UPS, FedEx, etc
https://insideevs.com/news/371826/amazon-electric-delivery-trucks-rivian/
For local delivery, yes. But there is no way that Amazon is going to move large containers from Long Beach to Chicago or Atlanta. And certainly not with electric trucks that cannot be recharged along the way. Once products get delivered to their local hubs they can then deliver it with those trucks, which can be recharged overnight.
Much of the pile up has to do with the empty containers sitting in the way and those that cannot be off loaded from chassis because there is place to put them. I read a couple of stories in the business papers a month or two ago, can’t locate them today, that China will not take them back. It is cheaper for China to build new than pay for processing and transit the used containers back. The containers sitting in the way are scrap metal. Doing a quick search this morning showed that a new container made in China cost $2-3000 US.
“It is cheaper for China to build new than pay for processing and transit the used containers back.”
That’s interesting. The market makes adjustments.
They should take those unused containers and turn them into little houses for the California homeless.
I’ve seen a number of houses that have been made from shipping containers.
Sounds like a business opportunity.
I’ve actually seen some pretty good house designs using shipping containers. The ones I saw used more than one container and combined them in interesting ways.
I remember somebody doing that somewhere, and then a bunch of activists complained about how “homeless people are being forced to live in storage containers”
There are actually people with money who choose to live in storage container homes. It makes them think they are saving the world.
I’ve seen several designs and they’ve even been featured in some of my magazines. There’s a lot you can do with them. But activists need something to whine about, right?
Here is another perspective on the empty container problem, I read this thread (link below) on Twitter this morning from a man named Ryan Petersen, describing a recent tour that he conducted at the ports of LA and Long Beach to look at the problem. A significant reason he discovered is restrictive regulations of the local cities in LA region that prohibit using available space outside the port terminals to offload the empty containers and free up the trucks to go pick up more full loads. He writes of many other issues, but there seem to be numerous choke points that are created by government policies.
[Edited to replace twitter thread with unrolled version]
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1451543776992845834.html
“but there seem to be numerous choke points that are created by government policies.”
Yes, I think this is the common theme at the California ports.
Apparently, after the Ryan Petersen thread went viral, the mayor of Long Beach suddenly signed an executive order to allow truck terminals outside the LA/LB ports to stack up to 4 or 6 containers high.
Must be an election next year ☺
Blame Government, Not COVID-19, for Supply Chain Collapse
Peter St. Onge / @profstonge / October 15, 2021
https://www.dailysignal.com/2021/10/15/blame-government-not-covid-19-for-supply-chain-collapse/
California truckers, in particular, have been socked by the state’s notorious AB 5 law restricting gig workers and independent contractors, combined with truck emission mandates introduced just last year that can mean tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket.
International Longshore/Warehouse Union
Party of Recipients
Democrats $171,42397 98%
Others $3,649 2%
Republicans $0 0%
https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/international-longshore-warehouse-union/recipients?id=D000044926
Weight limits on trucks are established for two reasons, both which affect transportation safety. One reason is to prevent trucks from self destructing and the other is to prevent roads from self destructing.
So it is now apparent that Gavin Newsom does not support safety in transportation as he has suspended safety regulations in order to help the Chinese.
There is no relation between the age and emissions status of a truck and regulation on how much it can carry. And really, how many 10 year old trucks were there out there?
As stated above, griff, about 60% of all trucks. Most class 8 tractors will last close to 1,000,000 miles, with an engine overhaul along the way. They average 60,000 miles/year. You do the math.
10 years is usually less than half the lifetime of those trucks try doing 5 minutes worth of research on non-propaganda sites and you could know that.
As the former head of marketing for Navistar (the 9600 was my baby), a few clarifications. An OTR long haul class 8 typically runs for about 5 years or 400k miles. The engine is overhauled, and then it is converted to regional (2 day runs) or short haul(day runs). Fewer miles per year, lasts another 10-15 years depending on where (winter salt corrosion). Drayage trucks running to /from intermodal terminals are all short haul old trucks. That is certainly 100% the case for the Chicago intermodal yards, where Navistar is based. Long Beach and LA would be a mix, but as estimated above the CARB rule probably cut CA drayage capacity about 60% in 2021.
The worst transportation crisis in world history is being caused by Union contracts and enviro-wackos:
1) California’s new heavy-duty truck emission standards prohibit over 50% of the US truck fleet from entering California.
2) Union contracts prohibit ports from being open 24/7, which is why US ports are rated in the 300’s in the world for container processing times.
3) Union contracts greatly restrict time-saving automation and robotics to minimize Union worker cuts and maximize Union membership rolls.
4) Some ports demand only Teamster Union truck drivers can remove containers from port terminals.
5) Since AVERAGE longshoreman Union make $170,000/year part-time non-unions members are kept to a minimum.
6) Although Unions have allowed the 24/7 ban to be temporarily lifted, only some piers in ports are doing so and most piers are still only working 16/7. (Funny how they leave that detail out…)
7) Although some piers are now working 24/7, not all port Custom’s offices or container yard terminals are, so it’s not really helping.
8) EPA rules regarding dredging are so time consuming and expensive, US ports’ ship lanes are very narrow and shallow so it takes too long for amazingly skillful pilots to take vessels in and out of port.
9) There is a shortage of about 50,000 truck drivers with no takers because far too many Americans are willing to live off welfare than to work..
Trucking is a very tough job that “only” pays about $50,000/year often less, so with excessive welfare benefits, why work. 20 million workers have left the workforce since April of this year, which is crazy..
i could go on and on at how chaotic and inefficient US ports are, but you get the picture…. It’s insane the second largest importer/exporter in the world has ports ranked in the 300’s against other international trading ports. BTW, NYC is US’ most efficient port ranked around 90th in the world in efficiency..sad..
Biden needs declare a state of emergency and get all piers in all major ports, all Custom’s, and all container yards working 24/7, port authorities must be forced to hire as many part-time non-Union longshoreman as required to handle the increased work load, and any Union member who threatens to strike will be fired, the new EPA heavy-duty restrictions must be suspended, any new full-time trucker that’s employed during the state of emergency will not have to pay any federal incomes taxes for 3 years.
This insane self-created USN transportation crisis is costing the world and US economies $trillions.
What a mess….
Well, Obama once said we shouldn’t underestimate Biden’s ability to screw things up.
Biden has screwed up everything he has touched so far.
Ya’ll come to free ports in TX and FL and skip CA robbery.
That’s what the Director of Florida’s ports said this morning on tv. They are ready to go to work.
If a shortage of drayage capacity is a major issue, then an adjustment of weight limits will likely make very little difference. These cargos are containerized and leave Asia loaded to weights which were optimized for the drayage systems in use at the respective destination ports. Changing the weight limits after the containers sit on a ship achored at their destination will do nothing to expedite the transfer of those containers.
I see a great business opportunity for someone to start a truly horse powered eco friendly way of getting goods about. The people of the Loony State will also be known for growing the best roses in the world or end up knee deep in horse s**t but they should be used to it as their political elite masters have been talking it for years! Just think of it long trains of horse drawn wagons stretching for as far as you can see carrying a fraction of the load that those bad smelly trucks once did.
James Bull
The central planning of socialism will always get results and the results are what is happening with the supply chain. And self interest is always a prime factor in their planning.
There is/was a backlog/slowdown of intermodal train service between South California & Chicago. This story from back in July…can’t imagine it has gotten any better.
BNSF metering space on LA-Chicago intermodal trains
https://www.joc.com/rail-intermodal/class-i-railroads/bnsf-railway/bnsf-metering-space-la-chicago-intermodal-trains_20210719.html
Yes. My second home is in Chicagoland and the intermodal yards there have backed up the whole country. A complicated mess of problems including not enough long sidings, not enough highway capacity as volumes have built over time, not enough automation (unions)…
The railroads could probably use a little bit more efficiency.
I worked for a 1500-person railroad company, the Katy Railroad, and then the Union Pacific Railroad, a 15,000-person railroad company, bought out the Katy, and I worked for the UP for several years, and the Katy Railroad could run circles around the UP Railroad when it came to moving cargo.
The Katy Railroad moved more rail traffic than any single-track railroad west of the Mississippi, and there was only one small railroad up east that was more efficient. The Katy Railroad was featured in an publication called “Trains” around 1984.
I was working the night the UP took over control of the Katy.
Normally, I would run about 10 trains through our terminal in an 8-hour shift.
The night the UP took over, a train came into town at the beginning of my shift, pulled up to the depot and stopped, and didn’t move again during my entire shift. No trains went through our terminal that night.
The reason? The UP couldn’t figure out how to call the train crews.
That was usually one of my jobs, but the UP moved this calling up to Omaha, and they just couldn’t get it together. It was a pathetic demonstration of how a bloated 15,000-person bureaucracy can screw things up because the left hand doesn’t talk to the right hand.
I could have called those crews in five minutes. In fact, those crews were calling me to see when they were going to get out and I couldn’t tell them because I had no control over the call. It had to come from Omaha. And it didn’t come all night. That was a harbinger of things to come.
I don’t imagine the UP has gotten any more efficient today than then.
I could have saved the UP millions of dollars if they had listened to me. I saw numerous occasions where a train would come through town and have an extra engine on it that was not listed on the manifest.
I called the Chief Dispatcher of the Union Pacific railroad the first time I spotted this problem, and he, at first was skeptical that the train had an extra engine on it because his computer showed the engine as being parked somewhere in New Mexico. But I assured him that the engine had just passed by my window in Oklahoma. He thanked me, but didn’t ask me to keep my eyes open for similar problems and report to him. He didn’t act like he was interested. So I didn’t report any more of the problems I saw to him. Why bother? I did report the problems to the Katy Chief Dispatcher, who was a good guy and actually listened. I let him deal with the UP Chief after that.
The UP didn’t know where many of their engines were located! The Katy Railroad knew the locstion of every engine they had. I could call the president of the Katy Railroad on the phone. I couldn’t call the president of the UP railroad unless I went through about 10 layers of bureaucracy.
That tends to stifle innovation and efficiency.
The UP would have been better off buying the Katy and then just allow it to run as normal without interference from the UP. But bureaucrats are compelled to stick their noses in places they don’t belong.
All the Katy people that tranferred to Omaha were amazed at how inefficient this big operation really was. The Katy people were used to getting things done, but that changed when they changed jobs and went to the UP.
…and now, this (it’s not just an LA/Long Beach issue): Now US intermodal rail yards clog up as port congestion and delays continue
https://theloadstar.com/now-us-intermodal-rail-yards-clog-up-as-port-congestion-and-delays-continue/
I also heard some anecdotal reports that emissions limits on trucks might be part of the cause of the blockage of the ports in California. I frequently see large, powerful trucks in Utah that can pull two or three trailers (containers) hitched together at once, which probably reduces the emission rate per ton-mile transported.
If California limits the gross weight of trucks that can cross the state, the trucks that arrive at the port can probably only load one container at a time to haul it across California. Truckers that use the more powerful trucks that can haul two or three containers can no longer use them in California, or would have to unhitch the extra trailers at the border with Nevada, Arizona, or Oregon. There is not much infrastructure at the highway crossings of these state borders (most of which are sparsely populated) to allow safe storage and parking of loaded trailers, without the risk of stolen merchandise.
It’s very possible that regulations against CO2 emissions are partly responsible for the backlog at the California ports. What’s more, these regulations actually serve to INCREASE CO2 emissions. A truck engine will consume more than one-third of the fuel consumed to haul three trailers when it only hauls one trailer, but since it would then have to make three trips, the total fuel consumed for three trailers would be higher for three trips hauling one trailer than for one trip hauling three trailers. So, for the same weight of merchandise hauled over the same distance, more fuel consumption and more CO2 emissions using lightly loaded trucks.
Then again, Gavin Newsom was never known for his IQ.
I don’t know about the emissions laws but I can definitely see AB5 having an impact – that would directly cause driver shortages.
I hear it’s being considered to be enacted at a national level.
Uncle Joe and CARB own this one too.
This would be a great time for the Governors of TX and FL to offer incentives to truckers to turn away from California and vote with their trucks.
Here is how the Biden Administration has handled all the various crises since January 20: Afghanistan fiasco, Border disaster, transportation crisis, violent crime crisis, economic crisis, monetary crisis, inflation crisis, energy crisis, gas crisis, food crisis, 12 million unfilled jobs crisis, etc:
(click to play)
https://youtu.be/6Orde7FtHh0?t=61
Better route the trucks through Mexico and Panama since the west coast is lost to the dark lords of CARB.
Union anecdote as told by the victim: Years ago I was an outside salesman of computers, calling on small businesses in a 30 mile radius of the home office. My income was based on straight commission, with no base salary – sell or starve. So, I hustled as much as I could.
On one occasion I received an order for a large PC and printer for a crane construction outfit that I regularly called on. Keep in mind, PC’s used to be huge, and the separate CRT monitor was often heavier than the main box. The printer they ordered was also large, meant for printing out reams of reports.
Well, I carried all three boxes in from my car to the main reception area, reporting to the receptionist. She told me I couldn’t carry the boxes any farther – “Trades” would have to take it from here. I waited over half an hour before two dudes came ambling up.
They looked over the order, opened up THE DOOR I WAS SITTING NEXT TO, and moved my three boxes from the reception area into that office. I had no idea that that room, just off the reception area, was where my order would land! They moved my boxes no more than ten feet from where I set them down on arrival and then ambled away. I could’ve set that equipment up, printed out a test page, and driven back to my home office in the time it took for those two guys to show up.
I have no doubt the receptionist knew where the boxes were going. She let me sit there for half an hour, waiting for trades to get around to stopping by. You will probably be shocked to hear that crane manufacturer went out of business years ago.
Washington Post says to stop complaining and just lower your expectations: https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1450410755698958337