What are the problems at the Port of Savannah? Trucker comments on supply chain crisis, backlog
In 10 years of being a truck driver, John Boutwell has never seen it this bad.
In 10 years of being a truck driver, John Boutwell has never seen it this bad.
In 10 years of being a truck driver, John Boutwell has never seen it this bad.
The supply chain crisis at the port has one truck driver saying something has to change.
The supply chain crisis has had a domino effect on everyone, including those who drive in and out of it all day.
“You can have really good days and you can have really long days," said John Boutwell, a Port of Savannah truck driver.
RELATED:
- Supply Chain Crisis: Trucker shortage leads to massive backup at the Port of Savannah
- Backlog at the Port of Savannah: 80,000 containers left sitting, 25 ships docked off the coast
Boutwell is one of many drivers who make a living off driver containers from the port to warehouses and in the 10 years of him doing this he has never seen it like this.
“We can have good days where we come in, straight into interchange. Straight into the port. Straight into stack. There’s a crane waiting for us. We could turn and come right back out. Other days are completely 180," Boutwell said.
Both Boutwell and Georgia Port Authority said there is no shortage of drivers from the port to warehouses, but instead there is a shortage of drivers from warehouses to retailers.
“The warehouses not having enough people to unload the containers. So it backed up to the port. The port is at capacity. We can’t get them out to different places," Boutwell said.
Both parties say it’s going to take everyone to get back on the road.
"The truck drivers, our safety department meets with them on a monthly basis to try and hear what’s going on. Trying to make improvements at the port," said Ed McCarthy, the COO of the Georgia Port Authority.
“If we all work together, we can all come out on top," Boutwell said.
Georgia Port Authority said that there have been improvements over the last week with containers getting out in six days instead of nine to 10 days.
In a CNN town hall Thursday night, President Joe Biden said he would call on the National Guard to help solve the supply chain crisis.
"Yes, absolutely, positively I will do that," he said, when asked by Anderson Cooper if he was prepared to call up the National Guard.
Biden then said he would specifically consider calling up the National Guard for trucking to help solve a shortage of drivers.
After Biden's comments, a White House official said the administration is not actively considering deploying the National Guard to help ease the supply chain gridlock.
“Requesting the use of the National Guard at the state level is under the purview of governors and we are not actively pursuing the use of the National Guard on a federal level," a White House official told CNN.