The White House and U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) have appointed Stephen Lyons as new port and supply chain envoy – as concerns over delays and elevated freight rates remain.
Retired General Lyons takes over for John Porcari to lead the Biden administration’s Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force first instituted in June 2021.
Lyons will work with the USDOT, ports, rail, trucking, and other private companies across supply chains to address bottlenecks and speed up the movement of goods.
According to a statement issued by the USDOT, the creation of this task force – together with several relief packages – has led to a near-50 per cent drop of long-dwelling containers at the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach since the February peak.
Similarly, containerised imports have also increased for most ports in March and the Port of Long Beach had a record month in April in terms of container throughput.
The Port of Los Angeles has also met container handling expectations in April, whilst registering a loss in loaded imports and exports.
Despite progress being made, Federal Maritime Commission Chairman Daniel Maffei pointed out that complete relief from supply chain congestion could take months.
“I definitely think the worst of it will start to abate, but unfortunately it’s not going to abate all at once, it will go down in steps,” Maffei commented.
“We might see the first sustained decline going into next year following this year’s holidays.”
Stepping in during a time of crisis, Lyons acknowledged the challenges ahead: “The Biden-Harris Administration has made tremendous progress on addressing the supply chain disruptions we’ve seen as we recover from the pandemic.
“I look forward to rolling up my sleeves and continuing to engage industry, labour, and port stakeholders to improve the fluidity of our supply chains, cut down on shipping costs, and ultimately save money for the American people.”
