Oklahoma Congressman Frank Lucas says it’s time to do something about the nation’s supply chain crisis. He joined recently in the introduction of the Truckers Responding at National Shipping Ports Overcoming Retail Turmoil Act.
Congressman Tracey Mann of Kansas sponsored the TRANSPORT Act which would require the Secretary of Transportation to relieve congested ports during either a national state of emergency or when ports are congested by 50% or more.
“Our nation is facing detrimental supply chain challenges and Americans are paying the price. Slowed global production, pent-up economic demand, and multi-sector labor shortages are fueling the supply chain crisis leaving billions of dollars’ worth of goods sitting idly on cargo ships or stuck in backed-up ports,” said Congressman Lucas.
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He said it’s time Congress and the Biden Administration did something to help alleviate the supply chain logjam and also eliminate “burdensome regulations standing in the way of that solution.”
The TRANSPORT Act would require the Secretary of Transportation to issue federal grants from unused relief dollars to motor carriers to transport goods from a port of entry to a destination point. It would also temporarily waive operating standards should those standards be more stringent than the federal standard, allowing U.S. Department of Transportation compliant trucks and drivers from other states to relieve ports and transport goods across the country.
“I’ve heard from Kansas farmers and truck drivers who are prepared to drive to California and collect goods because they understand the looming catastrophic results of congestion continuing at our ports,” said Congressman Mann. “If we have truckers who are willing and able to drive across the country to secure and distribute goods that are backed up at ports in other states, the government should remove any red tape standing in the way of that solution.”
Click here to view the full text of the legislation.