WASHINGTON — Truck drivers, shippers, wholesalers, retailers and other businesses key to the nation’s supply chain must do a better job at sharing information to help address issues.
This is the plan the Biden administration said on Tuesday, May 2, that it was ramping up in an effort to try and fix ongoing supply chain woes.
The Freight Logistics Optimization Works (FLOW) program, which was launched in March 2022 with 18 companies, now has 53 members.
Motor carriers participating in FLOW include: C&K; Gulf Winds; IMC Companies; J.B. Hunt; NFI Industries; RoadOne; and Werner.
Exchange participants receive assistance from the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) with things such as supply-and-demand information.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the program will “help us to smooth out supply chains to make us more resilient to whatever it is that is coming next.”
Data exchange may involve incoming container demand or available supply-side assets to move goods like terminal slots, tractors, chassis, and warehouse space, the Transportation Department said.
According to a Reuters report, White House deputy National Economic Council director Celeste Drake said at a forum the program had evolved its goal from “answering the very simple question of ‘Where’s my stuff?’ to ‘How do we create a forward-looking integrated picture of the supply chain condition in the U.S.?'”
Drake said the plan is to expand the program to additional ports.
USDOT has spent $1.5 million to create the program and is asking for $5.3 million in the current budget request “to keep scaling this, to make it even more useful.”
According to Reuters, he said officials will keep refining the program and seeking feedback from companies to make it more useful.
Biden created a task force in June 2021 to address high prices and shortages of consumer goods and crucial components, thanks to pandemic-related labor and demand issues.
The Trucker News Staff produces engaging content for not only TheTrucker.com, but also The Trucker Newspaper, which has been serving the trucking industry for more than 30 years. With a focus on drivers, the Trucker News Staff aims to provide relevant, objective content pertaining to the trucking segment of the transportation industry. The Trucker News Staff is based in Little Rock, Arkansas.
