Officials in Southern California should consider declaring a state of emergency to help ease clogged ports in the area, a state trucking boss said.

In an interview with Fox News, Shawn Yadon, the CEO of the California Trucking Association, said every stakeholder in the supply chain needed to act to fix the crisis – from shipping, trucking, and rail to warehousing. This echoed the sentiments of other experts.

On Monday, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach hit a fresh record of 100 vessels floating off the coast waiting to dock and unload, data from the Marine Exchange indicated.

Labor shortages along the supply chain, including in trucking, contributed to a “perfect storm” hitting ports, Yadon said, Fox Business reported.

“I think we are in a situation in California where a state of emergency related to the ports is certainly something that should be considered,” he added.

Of the 100 ships waiting on Monday, 97 were container ships carrying cargo that could miss the holiday shopping season.

Before the pandemic, the ports’ highest record had been 17 ships waiting to anchor, Kip Louttit, the head of the Marine Exchange, told Insider this week.

Containers that have been stacked up on the docks for weeks are waiting to be unloaded, but a shortage of on-dock workers and truck drivers has led to long delays in the process.

News of this record came days after the White House announced that the LA port would be following in the footsteps of its Long Beach neighbor and shifting to a 24/7 schedule.

This week, the head of the American Trucking Associations told CNN that the country was lacking 80,000 truck drivers, a new record.
Source: Business Insider