Written by William Hekman
The supply chain crisis continues to cripple the economy of the United States, and the biggest pains have been here in California, as hundreds of ships continue to idle off the coast of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Last month, the “dwell time” , the time a container stays at the port after being offloaded to being put on a truck and sent out, was six days, which is an all-time record. President Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg have been criticized for their role and their nonchalant attitude towards the crisis. Biden announced that ports with backlogs would operate 24/7 but now containers are being left in neighborhoods. Buttigieg has been on paid paternity leave for two months and has dismissed the problem. While some politicians such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis work to fix the issue, politicians in California have only made it worse.
Much of the issue is not in the ships, but the trucks that have to transport the containers. Many truck drivers are operating independently. There are more than 70,000 mostly minority owned independent truckers that work in California. Many truckers work as independent contractors and work for multiple companies. However, AB 5 has forced employers to hire truckers as employees and not contractors.
The California Trucking Association, the California Retailers Association, the Western Growers and several other business groups have written and lobbied to Gavin Newsom to declare a state of emergency to suspend AB 5 and AB 701. AB 701 is a recently signed bill that regulates quotas at warehouse distribution centers. Unfortunately, it does not seem like Newsom will budge on the issue. During the early stages of the pandemic, small businesses urged Newsom to suspend AB 5 so that people could pursue new jobs that could earn them income during the pandemic, but Newsom rejected their pleas. Yesterday, former Bill Clinton Press Secretary and current director of California’s Office of Business and Economic Development said that there would be no state of emergency issued.
It seems more and more that the Democrats are content with being the Grinch this holiday season rather than spreading joy and happiness in time that is supposed to be joyful and when Americans desperately need some joy in their lives.
Photo Cred: Mario Tama/Getty Images
