President Joe Biden on Thursday floated the idea of calling in the U.S. National Guard to address truck driver availability as port backlogs and inflation swell heading into the holiday season, and while the troops haven't deployed yet, other industry watchers are already calling for a state of emergency.
Asked point blank if he'd consider involving the National Guard to move freight, Biden said yes at a CNN town hall on Thursday, despite the fact the National Guard can only be deployed by state governors.
“The answer is yes, if we can’t move—increase the number of truckers, which we’re in the process of doing,” Biden said, without clarifying what actions his administration was taking to increase the number of truckers on the road.
Later, his press secretary would walk back those claims, saying the administration was "not actively pursuing the use of the National Guard on a federal level."
But even short of boots on the ground, many industry watchers are calling for California Governor Gavin Newsom to declare a state of emergency. Nineteen business organizations in California, including the California Trucking Association, the California Retailers Association, and the Southern California Logistics Council wrote a letter to the state's executive asking him to take extraordinary measures to combat the port backlog, including rolling back some of the state's ambitious regulations.
The letter praised Biden's plan to move to 24/7 port operation, but ultimately said it "will do little without immediate action from the state to address other barriers that have created bottlenecks at the ports, warehouses, trucking, rail, and the entire supply chain."
The letter's assertion tracks with CCJ's reporting that showed trucking industry professionals see more trouble at the ports than simply hours of business.
