Biden administration looks to fix supply shortages with Walmart, UPS and FedEx by Christmas
Keira Wingate Kelly Tyko
The White House is looking to help save Christmas and fix the widespread supply chain problems.
The administration announced Wednesday that Walmart, FedEx and UPS will expand their efforts to help with the ongoing supply chain bottlenecks and shortages caused by the pandemic.
President Joe Biden said he met with leaders from the Port of Los Angeles, the Port of Long Beach, and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Wednesday to discuss the supply issues at these ports and extending hours of operation.
"With the holidays coming up, you might be wondering if the gifts you plan to buy will arrive on time," Biden said, speaking from the East Room of the White House. "Today, we have an important announcement that will get things you buy to you and to the shelves faster."
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Biden said with port leaders, union and retailers, they were expanding port operation hours to be 24/7, adding that members of the union are willing to work the extra shifts in order to keep operations open nonstop.
Biden said extending the port hours had the potential to be a gamechanger.
"This is the first key step for moving on entire freight transportation and logistical supply chain nationwide to a 24/7 system," he said. "For the positive impact to be felt all across the country by all of you at home, we need major retailers who ordered the goods and the freight movers who take the goods from the ships to factories and to stores to step up as well."
The pandemic led to a 32% increase in online sales during 2020, but COVID-19 also led to massive disruptions in the workforce, causing widespread supply chain disruptions and labor shortages.
Early shopping could help supply chain
Experts recommend that consumers start shopping for holiday gifts now ahead of Thanksgiving and Black Friday, which is often seen as the official kickoff to the holiday shopping season.
"Shoppers are planning to spend more money for the holidays than they did last year," Kristin McGrath, a shopping expert and editor at deal website RetailMeNot, told USA TODAY. "This increased demand is all going to be on top of the shipping delays, staffing challenges and supply chain issues that are dogging retailers this year."
McGrath said this year Black Friday and early December will be in the center of a "perfect storm of high demand, low staffing, slow shipping and difficulties restocking" in Black Friday and early December."
For the most part, retailers have not yet shared holiday plans, but details are starting to trickle in.
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What UPS, FedEx, Walmart are doing
The Port of Los Angeles went to 24/7 operation in September and has added new off-peak nighttime shifts and weekend hours, doubling the effort to take cargo off the docks and onto highways.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said the Port of Los Angeles was answering Biden's call and committing to operate the port 24 hours a day.
"I am deeply grateful to the President and his team for working alongside us as we tackle the global supply chain issues impacting our port, and for bringing the country together to get goods moving more quickly to families and businesses," Garcetti said in a statement.
UPS is shifting to a 24/7 schedule, allowing for a 20% increase in containers being moved to ports. FedEx is following suit by increasing nighttime hours to help move more containers from ports. Walmart is expecting a 50% increase in moving goods by extending night-hours.
Other retailers, such as Samsung, The Home Depot and Target are announcing extended hours and shifts to keep up with demand and help clear the ports. Each company plans to move 10% to 60% more containers each night.
In June, the White House announced it would launch the Supply Chain Disruption Task Force to address the supply chain challenges caused by the pandemic.
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Follow reporters Keira Wingate and Kelly Tyko on Twitter: @KeiraRenee and @KellyTyko.