Biden announces plans FOR PORT & border-crossing improvements to help supply chain

President Joe Biden laid out how the recently passed infrastructure bill will help the current supply chain crisis through port improvements, along with freight system improvements, including a truck parking assessment.

In a fact sheet published Tuesday by the White House, the Biden administration announced some immediate actions it is taking, along with some near-term actions to help alleviate the supply chain issues.

This project allows the GPA to reallocate more than $8 million to convert existing inland facilities into five pop-up container yards in Georgia and North Carolina.

Under the plan, the Port of Savannah will transfer containers via truck and rail further inland so that they can be closer to their final destination, which will make available valuable real estate closer to the port, the White House says.

The effort will free up more dock space and speed goods flow in and out of the port, which leads the nation in containerized agricultural

.

The U.S. Department of Transportation is also going to allow port authorities across the country to redirect project cost savings toward tackling supply chain challenges. Also potentially affecting the trucking industry is the prioritization of key ports of entry for modernization and expansion within the next 90 days.

The plan will identify $3.4 billion in investments to upgrade obsolete inspection facilities and allow more efficient trade through the country’s northern and southern borders.

Additionally, the DOT will develop and issue revised guidance on State Freight Plans that incorporates best worldwide freight planning practices. The White House says the infrastructure bill strengthens the freight plans that states are currently required to produce to include supply chain cargo flows, an inventory of commercial ports, the impacts of e-commerce on freight infrastructure, and an assessment of truck parking facilities. These improved plans, the White House adds, will help states direct to their greatest areas of need.

FACT SHEET: The Biden- Harris Action Plan for America’s Ports and Waterways

While American ports are a cornerstone of the U.S. economy, outdated infrastructure and the COVID-19 pandemic have strained their capacity and jeopardized global supply chains. According to the 2021 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure Report issued by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), in 2018, America’s ports supported more than 30 million jobs and approximately 26% of our nation’s GDP.

However, the ASCE report warns that ports face extensive challenges modernizing infrastructure and maintaining essential facilities under threat from sea level rise and other climate challenges.

Only four U.S. ports are among the top 50 busiest ports in the world and no U.S. port is in the top 10. Many U.S. ports also have bridge or depth limitations that restrict their ability to receive the larger, post-Panamax vessels that are the future of ocean shipping. Further, the surge of cargo coming off larger vessels can also strain outdated landside infrastructure. As a result, more container traffic flows through a smaller number of U.S. ports with the offshore and onshore capacity to handle the largest vessels and their cargo. Taken together, America’s underfunded port and waterway infrastructure has real costs for our families, our economy, and our global competitiveness.

Recognizing the critical role American ports play in the global economy, President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal includes an unprecedented $17 billion to improve infrastructure at coastal ports, inland ports and waterways, and land ports of entry along the border.

These resources will deliver near-term assistance and make long-term investments to strengthen supply chain resiliency. Along the way, these investments will create good paying jobs and help America outcompete China. Together, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal is the single largest federal investment in our ports in U.S. history.

President Biden is not waiting to take action. Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing a set of concrete steps to accelerate investment in our ports, waterways, and freight networks. These goals and timelines will mobilize federal agencies and lay the foundation for successful implementation of the historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal.

This action plan will increase federal flexibilities for port grants; accelerate port infrastructure grant awards; announce new construction projects for coastal navigation, inland waterways, and land ports of entry; and launch the first round of expanded port infrastructure grants funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal.

Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing the following immediate actions:

•Support creative solutions to current supply chain disruptions by allowing for flexibility in port grants.

-The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) will allow port authorities across the country to redirect project cost savings toward tackling supply chain challenges. The Biden-Harris Administration will continue to look for additional flexibilities and other solutions to support infrastructure needs in the goods movement supply chain.

•Alleviate congestion at the Port of Savannah by funding the Georgia Port Authority pop-up container yards project.

- With this policy change, the Georgia Port Authority will be able to reallocate more than $8 million to convert existing inland facilities into five pop-up container yards in both Georgia and North Carolina. Under the plan, the Port of Savannah will transfer containers via rail and truck further inland so that they can be closer to their final destination, which will make available valuable real estate closer to the port. The effort will free up more dock space and speed goods flow in and out of the Port of Savannah, which leads the nation in containerized agricultural exports.

Further Near-Term Actions:

•Launch programs to modernize ports and marine highways with more than $240 million in grant funding within the next 45 days.

- The Port Infrastructure Development Grant program is the first and only federal grant program wholly dedicated to investments in port infrastructure. DOT will award $230 million in funding for this program and $13 million for the Marine Highway Program to support waterborne freight service.

•Identify projects for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers construction at coastal ports and inland waterways within the next 60 days.

- This plan will provide a roadmap for more than $4 billion in funding to repair outdated infrastructure and to deepen harbors for larger cargo ships.

•Prioritize key ports of entry for modernization and expansion within the next 90 days.

- This plan will identify $3.4 billion in investments to upgrade obsolete inspection facilities and allow more efficient international trade through the northern and southern borders.

•Open competition for the first round of port infrastructure grants funded through the bipartisan infrastructure deal within 90 days.

-DOT will announce more than $475 million in additional funding for port and marine highway infrastructure.

Additional Freight Investments

In addition to making the largest federal investment in American port infrastructure and freight networks in history, President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal will invest in transformative, shovel-worthy projects that revitalize other critical elements of America’s transportation infrastructure and supply chains. This includes an additional $110 billion to repair roads and bridges and support major transformational projects. These resources, if smartly deployed, can meaningfully improve supply chains and goods movement.

To help states and other grantees direct federal resources to transportation supply chain needs, the Biden-Harris Administration will:

-Develop a comprehensive freight movement playbook to states:

DOT will publish a playbook for States on how to use grant and loan programs across the Department to support goods movement and help alleviate freight bottlenecks. This playbook will highlight the policies, funding and financing available to strengthen the supply chain. Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal, States will receive more than $50 billion per year in federal-aid highway funding, much of which can be used to repair and modernize existing infrastructure to improve the performance of freight corridors.

- Incorporate the best worldwide freight planning practices into state freight plans:

DOT will develop and issue revised guidance on State Freight Plans that incorporates best worldwide freight planning practices. The BID strengthens the freight plans that States are currently required to produce to include supply chain cargo flows, an inventory of commercial ports, the impacts of e-commerce on freight infrastructure, and an assessment of truck parking facilities. Improved plans will help States direct resources to their greatest economic development needs.

Data sharing to support supply chains

Digital infrastructure also plays a key role in facilitating our supply chains. The goods movement chain is almost entirely privately operated and spans shipping lines, terminal operators, railroads, truckers, warehouses, and beneficial cargo owners. These different actors have each made great strides in digitizing their own internal operations, but they do not always exchange data with each other. This lack of data exchange causes delays and inefficiencies as cargo moves from one part of the supply chain to another, driving up costs and increasing fragility.

To further strengthen resiliency and leverage digitization of the supply chain, the Administration will:

Call for new data standards for goods movement

DOT will work with the Federal Maritime Commission to publish a request for information on standardized data exchange requirements for goods movement in the transportation supply chain. Standardized data are an important first step to ensure interoperability among actors in the supply chain and greater transparency, resiliency, fluidity, competition, and efficiency across the supply chain.

GET HELP WITH IFTA REPORT

*Kamion integrates with your ELD provider and records the miles for each truck.

*Kamion integrates with your fuel card provider to receive information around fuel purchases.

*These processes are occurring without your intervention so once the IFTA month comes, our users need to only click a button and the report is ready to be filed with the state.

*To ensure the bill is distributed equitably, in a couple of clicks IFTA report can be filtered by truck with all miles driven and fuel purchased by that truck.

*The report is easily sharable so you can send or print the report to provide the owner operator of proof.

Instantly Generate Report

IFTA stands for International Fuel Tax Agreement. The state in which you fuel up assigns that tax to you because it assumes you are using it in state. This of course doesn’t take into account that you may fuel in Chicago and drive through several states before your next stop in Los Angeles. In this scenario, Illinois is required to give back some of the tax you paid since you did not use all of the fuel there. Enter IFTA– it makes sure that states are paid only what they’re owed: for the fuel used for miles driven in state.

While IFTA gives back money to carriers, it doesn’t make it easy. Carriers need to track gallons of fuel purchased per state and miles driven per state and this information comes from different sources. Five years ago, IFTA miles were impossible to organize, but good ELD providers (like Samsara and Keep Truckin’) now provide a state mile report broken out by truck and state. Even still, state gallon tables need to be combined with the state mile tables, which is a complicated and not always accurate Excel exercise.

Some carriers opt to use their fuel cards to keep track of these data points. They pull a report with all gallons purchased for the quarter, but it doesn’t take into account how the funds are distributed across the mix of owner operators and company drivers that most small companies have.

You may be asking ‘all of this for a feature that will be used four times a year?’ The answer: yes–wrong reporting can result in audits and fines and potential revoking of trucking authority.

Acquisition of Kamion Intended to Drive Carrier Profitability; Accelerate Platform Enhancements

Kamion agreed to Be Acquired Outright by Loadsmart:

Earlier this year, Kamion announced it had entered into a strategic partnership with Loadsmart, a logistics technology platform that enables shippers, carriers, and brokers to efficiently manage an automated supply chain. This partnership has enabled Kamion to realize its vision of optimizing drivers’ time on the road. Kamion and Loadsmart understand that if carriers don’t succeed, no one in the supply chain will succeed. Thus, the goal of Kamion and Loadsmart’s partnership has always been to maintain the long-term health of the carriers in our network. We believe that carriers who have access to the right technology can be more efficient, drive fewer empty miles and become more profitable.

To ensure carriers continue to have access to the tools they need to compete in the modern logistics marketplace, Kamion agreed to be acquired outright by Loadsmart. We view this acquisition as an investment in the carriers who use Kamion by adding standalone value to their daily operations without any downside of carriers. Through this new ownership arrangement, Kamion will benefit from Loadsmart’s full set of resources as we continue to create an agnostic, best-in-class digital marketplace where carriers can fully optimize dispatch and reduce overhead cost by making better decisions.

8% fixed margin on all Loadsmart loads booked through Kamion:

Kamion will remain open to other carrier-side platforms to gather data and distribute loads. As a commitment to transparency and to encourage continued marketplace participation in Kamion, Loadsmart will shift to a 8% fixed margin on all Loadsmart loads booked through Kamion.

Optimized Routes:

With the dedicated focus of the talented Loadsmart team, Kamion will be able to further help carriers reduce the amount of revenue spent on overhead while also reducing the number of miles that trucks run empty.

Loadsmart:

Transforming the future of freight, Loadsmart leverages artificial intelligence, machine learning and strategic partnerships to automate how freight is priced, booked and shipped. Pairing advanced technologies with deep-seated industry expertise, Loadsmart fuels growth, simplifies operational complexity and bolsters efficiency for carriers and shippers alike.