904 356-JOBS (5627)

904 356-JOBS (5627)

Local logistics companies look to unsnarl supply chain in 2022 (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal) — “It’s one thing to say we are open for business (and) we want our ports operating at max capacity,” said Jesus Garay. “We need to address the issues to get the freight to and from these ports.”

The issue: trucking.

Garay, the owner and CEO of Global Freight and Commerce, praised Gov. Ron DeSantis for being a cheerleader for Florida’s ports. However, heading into 2022, he said, the logistical focus should be on trucking in addition to luring additional container cargo to local ports.

In the final quarter of 2021, the governor publicly advocated for ocean carriers to reroute to Florida’s 15 ports. Jaxport would stand to be the biggest beneficiary because it is the state’s largest container port and accessible to multiple interstates.

However, Garay notes that additional freight will not have the impact locally if driver shortages within the trucking industry are not addressed.

“We have to address the main obstacle with the high barrier to a CDL,” Garay said. “Then, we have to address the age barrier for interstate (drivers). …We need to hash out the 21-year-old driver restriction for interstate commerce.”    

Rep. John Rutherford (R-Jacksonville) was one of nearly 80 members of Congress who wrote to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in November 2021 urging the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to move forward with its Under-21 Commercial Driver Pilot Program that would allow for adults 18,19 and 20 years old to .

Rutherford told the Business Journal that Jaxport and other local ports should consider importing from Southeast Asia as opposed to China in order to take advantage of shipping routes through the Suez Canal rather than the Panama Canal.

Jaxport CEO Eric Green said the port authority has been in constant discussion with ocean carriers; however, those will begin to take more urgency in the springtime in preparation for the harbor deepening project being completed in mid-2022.

Another potential windfall for local ports is the expiration of the contract between west coast ports and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union as well as the Pacific Maritime Association in mid-2022. If those negotiations snag, Jaxport could conceivably, Green said, see additional business in the summertime.

“If history repeats itself, which it has, when they negotiate contracts there is usually a shutdown, which causes a diversion of cargo to the East Coast,” Green told the Business Journal. “That’s not on a lot of people’s minds right now, but it is on mine.”

Photo courtesy of Brian Stalter