The Nation

WASHINGTON — Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., has introduced legislation to exempt truckers and other essential workers from COVID-19 vaccine mandates that are soon-to-be-implemented by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration at the direction of President Joe Biden. Dubbed the Keeping Our COVID-19 Heroes Employed act, the measure defines essential workers as anyone who a governing body deems essential or who has been exempt from any restrictions during the pandemic response. Todd Spencer, president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, hailed Blackburn for her intervention. “OOIDA thanks Sen. Blackburn for introducing legislation that will ensure vaccination remains a personal decision for truckers,” Spencer said. “Throughout the pandemic, we provided our members with the most up-to-date information on vaccines but have always maintained that vaccination is a personal choice just like any health decision.” OOIDA’s stance has been that truckers already are confronted with an excessive amount of regulations and mandates. “Trucking is one of the most regulated professions in the country, and the ongoing supply chain crisis has exposed the unpaid wait times and other difficult working conditions drivers are often forced to endure,” Spencer said. “These are just a couple of the reasons the industry has long suffered from an excessively high driver turnover problem. Congress must ensure that the industry can better attract and retain drivers who have always been critical in keeping the supply chain moving. This legislation will help accomplish that.” To view the full bill, click here.

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Victims of a crash on the Pennsylvania Turnpike that killed five people and hurt nearly all the dozens of passengers on a bus nearly two years ago claim in a lawsuit that one of the drivers was wearing noise-canceling headphones. The wrongful death and negligence lawsuit filed last week in Philadelphia claims a FedEx driver’s use of the headphones prevented him from hearing warnings that he was about to crash into the scene of the bus wreck near Mount Pleasant. The complaint includes a photo of the driver in the cab wearing headphones. The FedEx truck plowed into a bus headed from the New York area to Cincinnati around 3:30 a.m. on Jan. 5, 2020. The lawsuit says one of the plaintiffs, a child identified by his initials, was decapitated in the crash. The plaintiffs are 18 victims or their next of kin. The 95-page complaint names as defendants Z&D Tour Inc., the bus operator based in Rockaway, New Jersey; Ohio Coach Inc.; Sioux Trucking Inc. and FedEx Ground Package System Inc. Messages seeking comment were left for the FedEx public relations department and with Sioux Trucking. Z&D Tour attorney Dru Carey declined comment. A call to Ohio Coach’s online number was directed to another number that did not allow messages. The lawsuit says the victims required a range of medical care for such injuries as a broken neck, traumatic brain injury and multiple broken ribs. It seeks damages and asks FedEx to institute a policy to prevent its drivers from wearing headphones. The National Transportation Safety Board has said light snow was falling when the driver lost control about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh. Two passengers, the bus driver and two occupants in a truck were killed. The preliminary NTSB report said the bus veered toward the median, swept back across all travel lanes, hit an embankment, rolled onto its side and stopped in the travel lanes. It was then struck by a FedEx tractor-trailer that was itself hit by a UPS truck. The driver and co-driver of the UPS truck were killed. At least one other lawsuit has been filed over the crash.

|UPDATE 2| BOSTON — A nor’easter that battered the Atlantic coast with hurricane-force wind gusts left more than a half-million homes and businesses without power in New England and forced the closure of bridges, ferries and schools in the region Wednesday. Utility workers labored to restore power as the storm’s winds and rain, which were felt as far north as Nova Scotia, diminished throughout the day. The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency reported about 425,000 power outages after gusts as high as 94 mph (151 kph) blew tree branches laden with wet, heavy leaves onto power lines. Utilities reported about 90,000 customers without power in Rhode Island, 17,000 in Maine, 15,000 in Connecticut and 6,000 in New Hampshire. Officials advised against travel in southeastern Massachusetts because of wind, toppled trees and downed power lines. The highest gust of the storm was recorded at 94 mph at a ferry dock on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, it said. Dozens of schools canceled classes. In Connecticut, power lines came down on a school bus headed to Middletown High School. No injuries were reported. Six students were on the bus, which continued its route after emergency responders removed the power lines. In Rhode Island, authorities closed the Newport Pell and Jamestown Verrazzano Bridges amid wind gusts as high as 70 mph early Wednesday, then reopened them shortly afterward to most vehicles. School buses were still not permitted to cross. Ferry service to Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket islands was suspended Wednesday. One driver was killed and another injured when a tree limb fell on two passing vehicles in Morris Township in northern New Jersey, authorities said. The body of a kayaker who disappeared off New York’s Long Island was recovered near the Bronx after being spotted in the water by a helicopter search crew, Coast Guard officials said Tuesday. Laurence Broderick, 45, had been reported missing early Tuesday. |UPDATE 1| BOSTON — A nor’easter that barreled up the U.S. coast with hurricane-force wind gusts has left 425,000 people without power in Massachusetts and forced the closure of bridges, ferries and schools in the region on Wednesday. The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency reported the widespread power outages Wednesday morning as areas along the coast experienced wind gusts of 80 mph to 90 mph. About 90,000 people lost power in Rhode Island, according to National Grid. The National Weather Service in Boston reported that travel is not recommended early this morning in southeast Massachusetts because of the hurricane-force wind gusts, numerous downed trees and power outages. The highest wind gust of the storm was recorded at 94 mph at a ferry dock on Martha’s Vineyard, it said. Winds are slowly diminishing throughout the day. The Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority closed the Newport Pell and Jamestown Verrazzano Bridges due to wind gusts of 70 mph early Wednesday morning, then reopened them shortly after to most vehicles. School buses were still not permitted to cross. Ferry service to Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket was suspended Wednesday. Dozens of schools canceled classes. The storm brought heavy rain and gusts late Tuesday and intensifying into Wednesday. The early nor’easter arrived before many trees have shed their leaves for the winter, increasingly the likelihood of power outages as branches covered in wet, heavy leaves blow onto transmission lines. The storm, which is expected to be felt as far north as Nova Scotia, drenched the mid-Atlantic on Tuesday.   |PREVIOUS STORY| BOSTON  — A powerful nor’easter began barreling up the U.S. Northeast coast Tuesday, with officials warning it could bring intense flooding, hurricane-force wind gusts and widespread power outages. New York and New Jersey issued emergency declarations ahead of the storm, which was forecast to gather strength through the day as it swept toward New England. Parts of New Jersey had been soaked by more than 5 inches of rain Tuesday morning, according to the National Weather Service, leading to flooding in some areas. Strong winds were forecast to buffet the area through Wednesday, bringing the potential for widespread power outages, officials said. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy delayed the opening of state offices until 11 a.m. because of the wind and rain, calling the day “a wash out.” The storm prompted Rutgers University to move classes online for the day, while some other colleges and school districts canceled instruction. In New England, officials warned of possible flooding and power outages as the storm headed north. The worst of it was expected to hit late Tuesday through Wednesday morning, lashing the region with high winds and heavy rain. Wind gusts as high as 75 mph were forecast on Massachusetts’ Cape Cod, with sustained winds as high as 45 mph. The National Weather Service warned that waves off the state’s coast could reach 19 feet. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority suspended its ferry service Tuesday and Wednesday. In Salem, which hosts one of the nation’s largest Halloween festivals through October, the town canceled ferry service to Boston, urging visitors to take a commuter train instead. The early nor’easter arrives before many trees have shed their leaves for the winter, raising the risk for power outages as branches weighed down by wet leaves come in contact with transmission lines. Eversource, a power company that serves Connecticut and other New England states, warned widespread outages were possible through Wednesday. The storm has already disrupted some flights, and federal officials warned about possible delays or cancellations across the region. Seven flights were diverted from New York City’s airports to Albany on Monday night because of heavy rain, according to officials at Albany International Airport. All but one of the flights had left Albany by early Tuesday. In the waters off New York’s Long Island, the U.S. Coast Guard and local police searched Tuesday for a kayaker who did not return from a trip Monday night. He left a few hours before heavy rain started falling. The storm arrives just weeks after the remnants of Hurricane Ida inundated the Northeast and caused deadly flooding. At least 50 people from Virginia to Connecticut died as rainwater trapped cars on submerged waterways and flooded subway stations and basements.

ARLINGTON, Va . — Representatives from the American Trucking Associations (ATA) are scheduled to meet this week with members of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (WHOMB) to discuss concerns over the Biden administration’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccine order. The vaccine order is being administered through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and has not yet gone into effect. There is no firm timeline on when it will. ATA President Chris Spear, in a letter sent to the WHOMB on Oct. 21, warned that such a mandate would likely create serious problems within the trucking industry. “While much of the country was sequestered in their homes, the trucking industry served its essential function and did so successfully with safety standards developed by public health experts,” Spear wrote. “Now placing vaccination mandates on employers, which in turn force employees to be vaccinated, will create a workforce crisis for our industry and the communities, families and businesses we serve. In fact, should the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the leadership of the federal task force on COVID continue on the paths they are on, the nation’s motor carriers – who exclusively supply 80% of the country and move 70% of all US freight tonnage – could lose up to 37% of their drivers to retirements, attrition to smaller carriers and/or conversion to independent contractor owner-operators.” Spear went on to say that the ATA supports “the administration’s goals of increased vaccination rates and clear health guidelines to enhance protections for all Americans. We have urged trucking industry employees to get vaccinated and will continue to do so. We will also continue to work with federal authorities to increase voluntary vaccination rates for our sector.” In his letter, Spear said that the ATA is asking for an exemption for truck drivers “akin to that provided by Canada for its drivers or alternatively deferring coverage of truck drivers to the tradition regulating agency with transportation expertise rather than OSHA. Federal contractors that implement the vaccine mandate required in Executive Order 14042 should not have to comply with a second set of OSHA rules — those that implement the E.O. 14042 mandate should be deemed compliant with the OSHA ETS and ideally vice versa to avoid overlapping and contradictory requirements. …” Spear also warned that the mandates could further damage the supply chain. “The U.S. is already facing unprecedented supply chain disruptions and delays due to many factors, including significant labor shortages, production shutdowns, a shortage of raw materials, and pent-up consumer demand,” he wrote said. “…Our data shows that a vaccine mandate may very well further cripple the supply chain throughout the country by forcing up to 13% of drivers to leave the industry entirely.”

MAD RIVER, Calif. – The 2021 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree began its journey on Oct. 23 from the Mad River Ranger District of the Six Rivers National Forest in California to Washington, D.C., following its harvesting. According to a news release, the harvest ceremony included brief remarks by USDA Forest Service leadership, local elected officials and project partners, as well as a blessing by the Lassic Band of Wylacki-Wintoon Family Group Inc. The “People’s Tree” was harvested using a two-person crosscut saw, which celebrates decades of U.S. Forest Service crosscutting tradition. A Kenworth T680 Next Generation will transport the 84-foot White Fir, nicknamed “Sugar Bear,” to a full slate of community celebrations during a 3,300-mile journey from Northern California to Washington, D.C. “Six Rivers, Many Peoples, One Tree” is the tour theme. System Transport, the official designated tour carrier, is using its new T680 Next Gen equipped with a 76-inch mid-roof sleeper to carry the special tree. The community celebrations take place from Oct. 29 – Nov. 16 throughout California and across the U.S., culminating with the official tree lighting on the West Lawn in early December. Smaller companion trees also will be provided to decorate offices inside of the U.S. Capitol building and other sites throughout Washington, D.C., along with 15,000 handmade ornaments created by Californians. Below is the 2021 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree Tour public schedule: Oct. 29: Crescent City and Eureka, Calif. Oct. 30: Willow Creek and Fortuna, Calif. Oct. 31: Ukiah, Calif. Nov. 1: Sausalito and Vallejo, Calif. Nov. 2: Dixon, Calif. Nov. 3: Sacramento and Sonora, Calif. Nov. 4: Mariposa, Calif. Nov. 6: Pasadena and Redlands, Calif. Nov. 8: Holbrook, Ariz. Nov. 9: Phoenix, Ariz. Nov. 11: Albuquerque, N.M. Nov. 13: Fayetteville, Ark. and Springfield, Mo. Nov. 16: Williamsport, Md. Nov. 19: Delivery to West Lawn, U.S. Capitol Building (Washington, D.C.)

NASHVILLE – The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) has released its 17th annual Top Industry Issues report, identifying concerns of industry leaders, drivers and owner-operators. Chief among them: A lack of parking for big rigs, driver shortages and fuel prices. However, the list of concerns varied widely from the industry as a whole to the everyday working trucker. American Trucking Associations Chair Sherri Garner Brumbaugh, president and CEO of Garner Trucking, said of the list: “The ATRI list of top industry issues provides a critical snapshot of the challenges impacting our industry at any given moment … this year is no exception as supply chain constraints dominate the nation’s headlines. ATRI’s annual analysis not only captures the industry’s sentiment on the criticality of each of these issues but also maps out a course for addressing each through the stakeholder-ranked strategies.” For the fifth year in a row, the driver shortage topped the list of industry concerns, garnering more than four times as many first-place votes as the number two issue, driver retention. Further reflecting the industry’s workforce challenges, driver compensation was ranked third overall. Lawsuit abuse reform rose three spots this year to take the number four spot and the lack of available truck parking rounded out the top five industry concerns. The diesel technician shortage made the top 10 list for the first time this year, as the 10th ranked most critical issue in the industry. Nearly 25 percent of the survey respondents were professional truck drivers. Among their top concerns were driver compensation and truck parking, which tied for the number one industry concern. Detention and delay at customer facilities was ranked by drivers as their second most pressing concern among drivers. More than 2,500 trucking industry stakeholders participated in this year’s survey, including motor carriers, drivers, industry suppliers, driver trainers, law enforcement, and others. “This year’s large response shows just how serious our industry is about identifying the most critical concerns and more importantly, figuring out how we collectively deal with each issue,” said ATRI President and COO Rebecca Brewster. “It really is no surprise that truck driver-related issues – notably the driver shortage and driver retention – ranked so high on the survey. Coming out of the pandemic, with the increased demand for goods and other pressures on the supply chain, getting and keeping drivers has been a real challenge industrywide,” Brewster said. “We also see the impacts of the current supply chain crunch in how highly issues like driver compensation, truck parking, infrastructure and driver detention ranked on the list.”    

SAN FRANCISCO — A massive storm barreled toward Southern California on Monday, Oct. 25, after flooding highways, toppling trees, cutting power to about 380,000 utility customers and causing rock slides and mud flows in areas burned bare by wildfires across the northern half of the state. Drenching rains and strong winds accompanied the weekend arrival of an atmospheric river — a long plume of Pacific moisture — into the drought-stricken state. Rainfall records were shattered and heavy snow pounded high elevations of the Sierra Nevada. The National Weather Service issued numerous flash flood warnings. There were widespread power outages in Northern California, with Pacific Gas & Electric reporting Sunday evening that about 130,000 customers did not have electricity, though the utility said power had been restored to about 250,000 customers. Flooding was reported across the San Francisco Bay Area, closing streets in Berkeley, inundating Oakland’s Bay Bridge toll plaza and overflowing rivers in Napa and Sonoma counties. “It’s been a memorable past 24 hours for the Bay Area as the long talked-about atmospheric river rolled through the region,” the local weather office said. “We literally have gone from fire/drought conditions to flooding in one storm cycle.” The weather service called preliminary rainfall totals “staggering,” including 11 inches at the base of Marin County’s Mount Tamalpais and 4.02 inches in downtown San Francisco. “It looks like yesterday was the fourth wettest day ever for downtown SF where records go back to the Gold Rush years,” the weather service said. About 150 miles to the north, the California Highway Patrol closed a stretch of State Route 70 in Butte and Plumas counties because of multiple landslides within the massive Dixie Fire burn scar. In the state’s Central Valley, Sacramento got 5.4 inches of rain, smashing the all-time one-day rainfall record dating to 1880, the weather service said. Interstate 80, the major highway through the Sierra to Reno, Nevada, was shut down by heavy snow early Monday. The same storm system also slammed Oregon and Washington state, causing power outages that affected tens of thousands of people. Two people were killed when a tree fell on a vehicle in the greater Seattle area. In California’s Colusa and Yolo counties, state highways 16 and 20 were shut for several miles because of mudslides, the state Department of Transportation said. Burn areas remain a concern because land devoid of vegetation can’t soak up heavy rainfall as quickly, increasing the likelihood of flash flooding. “If you are in the vicinity of a recent burn scar and haven’t already, prepare now for likely debris flows,” the Sacramento weather service tweeted. “If you are told to evacuate by local officials, or you feel threatened, do not hesitate to do so. If it is too late to evacuate, get to higher ground.” South of San Francisco, evacuation orders were in effect in the Santa Cruz Mountains over concerns that several inches of rain could trigger debris flows in the CZU Lightning Complex Fire burn scar when the storm moves through early Monday. Further south, evacuation warnings for parts of western Santa Barbara County were upgraded to evacuation orders in the area burned by this month’s Alisal Fire. Officials said mountain areas above 9,000 feet in the Sierra Nevada could get 18 inches of snow or more from Sunday until Monday morning. Recent storms have helped contain some of the nation’s largest wildfires this year. But it remains to be seen if the wet weather will make a dent in the drought that’s plaguing California and the western United States. California’s climate is hotter and drier now and that means the rain and snow that does fall is more likely to evaporate and less likely to absorb into the soil. California’s 2021 water year, which ended Sept. 30, was the second driest on record and last year’s was the fifth driest on record. Some of the state’s most important reservoirs are at record low levels.

WASHINGTON —  Federal highway safety inspectors found more than 2,700 violations on rigs transporting hazardous materials in North America during an operation over the summer, according to a report released by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) on Oct. 13. The operation, which inspected 13,471 vehicles in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, was part of an enforcement initiative by the CVSA. From June 21-25 in the U.S. and Canada, 10,905 commercial motor vehicles and 8,363 packages were inspected, identifying 2,714 violations, according to the CVSA report. The report didn’t note how many violations were found in Mexico. Problems found in the U.S. included: 496 shipping papers violations 628 non-bulk/small means of containment packaging violations 390 bulk packaging/large means of containment placarding violations 277 non-bulk/small means of containment labeling violations 307 bulk/large means of containment placarding violations 167 other safety marks violations 288 loading and securement violations 50 package integrity (leaking) violations

NEW YORK — A new law signed by New York’s governor in September represents sweeping changes to the trucking industry in that state, leaving many in the industry to wonder how such a plan will work. Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the bill, which will ban the sale of new gas-powered cars and trucks in the state by 2035. “New York is implementing the nation’s most aggressive plan to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions affecting our climate,” Hochul said in a statement on her web page. “To reach our ambitious goals, we must reduce emissions from the transportation sector, currently the largest source of the state’s climate pollution.” The law redlines sales of gas-powered passenger cars, trucks, off-road vehicles and equipment by 2035; and medium- and heavy-duty vehicles by 2045. Truck manufacturers will be required, starting with the 2025 model year, to meet an annual sales percentage of new zero-emission trucks, with that quota varying among vehicle classes. By 2035, according to the new regulations, 55% of Class 2b-3 pickup trucks and vans, three-quarters of Class 4-8 trucks and 40% of Class 7 and 8 tractors sold in the state must be zero-emission. The move models California’s recently passed Advanced Clean Trucks Rule and joins other states with similar guidelines, among them Massachusetts and New Jersey. “The new law and regulation mark a critical milestone in our efforts and will further advance the transition to clean electric vehicles, while helping to reduce emissions in communities that have been overburdened by pollution from cars and trucks for decades,” said Hochul. The trucking industry booed the new law on the grounds of its impracticality given the current electrical grid load, a lack of charging stations and other real-world challenges. “We have significant concerns, not the least of which is the lack of infrastructure,” said Kendra Hems, president of the Trucking Association of New York (TANY). “We don’t think the state is going to be prepared to support the sales mandates. And it’s not only about the lack of infrastructure, but it’s also about the utilities having rate structures in place and what the overall cost of ownership is going to look like. “I know the vehicle manufacturers are preparing for all this, but it not only hurts the industry — particularly, I think, our smaller carriers — but also the manufacturers, because they’re being forced to try and sell vehicles. It’s challenging for companies to buy them, based on price and lack of infrastructure to support their use.” Hems said the challenges of implementing the plan aren’t hard to find, and that they turn on some of the most obvious elements of traffic management. “One of the big concerns that we have as an industry is lack of truck parking, and now we’re talking about electrifying an industry where drivers already don’t have anywhere to park,” she said. “When we have electric trucks, where are they going to go to charge? That also gets into more of the cross-country challenges.” To that point, a dozen governors recently signed a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to pass federal legislation that would set similar deadlines and sales quotas. Until that happens, long-haul operators in states like New York are left wondering how to navigate a patchwork of regulations and infrastructure by state. “If you leave California with a load of produce and you’re required to use an all-electric vehicle, is the infrastructure going to be there to get us across country? What does that look like?” said Ken Johnson, CEO of Leonard’s Express based in Farmington, New York. “Some of these states that don’t share the same values as California and New York are not going to be motivated to move that quickly. Where are we going to be able to plug our trucks in?” he continued. “I’ve been around long enough, I’ve gone through all the EPA mandates on the diesel engines and not all of them went so well.” And then there’s the cost, said Johnson, a former chairman of TANY, which goes beyond just the price of equipping a fleet with new vehicles. “The price of these zero-emission vehicles is currently quite a bit higher than a diesel truck,” said Johnson, whose company runs 650 rigs with 700 refrigerated trailers and 300 dry vans. “It’s also my understanding to put in a charging station is a fairly significant investment that we’re probably all going to have to do at our facilities. “The other piece of it that you don’t hear a lot about in the publications is if the electrical grid is built big enough to handle all these additional chargers,” he added. “If I have to put in 100 charging stations here in my terminal, is the electricity coming from the road adequate to handle that?” Stephen Wadhams, president of Phelps, New York-based Wadhams Enterprises, said his company hadn’t even begun to think about going electric before the new law passed, in large part because of what he sees as inadequacies in the current technology. “We haul a lot of heavy, overweight permitted-type freight,” said Wadhams, whose company runs 430 units to cover a primarily three-state market territory. “I don’t think (electric trucks) are far enough advanced to haul the kind of weight that we’re handling. We haul dairy milk from farms to handlers, bottling plants, cheese plants and so on. We haul petroleum products. Obviously, this is going to hurt our petroleum business. We haul heavy there too, upwards of 107,000 pounds or so.” Wadhams said the law impacts the industry’s ability to compete, which will ultimately affect local and state economics. He said with so many challenges in the market right now, the trucking industry can ill afford more government overreach. “I personally just think this is a disaster; it’s pie in the sky as far as I’m concerned,” he said. “We’re already struggling to keep businesses in New York here. This is just going to drive the cost up more. Trucking companies in this state are already struggling to stay here. We just keep raising our rates to our customers and customers just keep on leaving this state. “(Lawmakers) just don’t get it. They just don’t get it. They sign these bills, and they have no clue on what it’s going to cost or what it’s going to take to even get there. It’s just ridiculous,” he said. Hochul has already indicated she will seek reelection as governor of New York, a position she filled following Andrew Cuomo’s resignation in August in the face of multiple sexual harassment allegations. Trucking officials said they believe Hochul’s move was thus more about drumming up political points among environmental special interests than cleaning up greenhouse gases, leaving operators holding the bag. “I drive back and forth to Florida a lot, and there’s tractor-trailers right now that are not electric vehicles that are parked everywhere. So, on the time line, I don’t understand how they possibly think they can get this done,” said Terry Borwegen, president of Borwegen Trucking Inc. in Greenville, New York. “I know another company that has ordered electric trucks and he has them on order. He can’t get them. They’ve been on order for probably a year and a half now.” Borwegen also expressed doubts about the nation’s ability to power a network of charging stations. “I have been reading up on it and listening to different podcasts and such and people that have electric vehicles like yard trucks, they need two trucks to do the job that one truck does now because they have to charge. And another thing that was brought up at a conference, California has blackouts and brownouts because people are using too much electricity. So, I just can’t wrap my head around this,” she noted. “I’m all for clean emissions. I’m all for saving the planet. I’m all for doing it the right way. But our infrastructure is not set up for this,” she said. I don’t understand it.”

LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles neighborhood just outside the nation’s busiest port complex has become a perpetual traffic jam, with trucks hauling cargo containers backed up day and night as workers try to break through an unprecedented backlog of ships waiting to unload. About 40% of all shipping containers entering the U.S. come through the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports. The logjam of ships has interrupted the global supply chain and last week prompted the Biden administration to allow the port complex to operate 24 hours a day to try to get goods unloaded and out to consumers. Since then, residents of the Wilmington neighborhood just north of the ports have complained that trucks are backed up in the streets at all hours. Meanwhile, cargo companies running out of space to store containers off-loaded from ships are stacking them outside overloaded warehouses and in parking lots. This week a container slid off a truck making a turn on a narrow street, pancaking a parked car. Nobody was hurt, but local officials say with so many trucks crammed into a small area it was an accident waiting to happen. “This is becoming an issue of safety,” said Jacob Haik, deputy chief of staff for LA City Councilman Joe Buscaino, who represents the working-class area. Haik said the city would start issuing citations to firms that stack containers unsafely or whose trucks clog streets. As of Tuesday, there were 63 ships berthed at the two ports and 96 waiting to dock and unload, according to the Marine Exchange of Southern California that oversees port vessel traffic. On Monday, the number of ships waiting to enter the ports hit a record 100. Wilmington resident Sonia Cervantes said her driveway was blocked by a truck as she tried to leave for work at 6:30 a.m. Her whole block is fed up with the traffic, she said. “It’s a bunch of neighbors that are very upset because it’s a non-stop situation,” Cervantes told CBS LA. Maria Arrieran, who owns the UCTI Trucking Company along with her husband, Frank, said she sympathizes with the community, but the truck traffic is a result of limited container storage. “It’s an ongoing problem. We’re just trying to get these truckers in and out,” she said Wednesday. “I’m literally out on the streets directing traffic.” California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday issued an executive order that aims to ease the backlog. He directed California government agencies to look for state-owned properties that could temporarily store goods coming into the ports. Newsom, a Democrat, asked the state’s Department of General Services to review potential sites by Dec. 15. He also ordered the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development to examine other properties not owed by the state, such as private or locally owned parcels, that could also be used for storage, though he didn’t give a timeline for that review. Newsom’s order is a start, Haik said, but he urged the governor to also allow cities to make it easier to change zoning rules. The city has identified several port-owned plots that could be quickly paved and transformed into storage sites if not for existing red tape, he said. “The lots are quite small. But if you could pull together 10 or 12 lots, and put 40 containers on each of them, that’s 500 containers,” Haik said. “That’s some serious relief.” More relief could come by diverting cargo ship traffic to the Port of Oakland. Mayor Libby Schaaf told KRON-TV on Wednesday that her city’s port “has unused capacity right now” and Oakland can “take some of those ships off your hands, L.A.” Newsom’s order also directed the state’s transportation agency to look for freight routes where vehicle weight limits can be exempt to help with the movement of goods. He asked his administration to come up with port and transportation improvements that could be included in the next state budget, which he will introduce in January. A coalition of business groups including retailers, truckers, grocers and others said Wednesday that Newsom’s order doesn’t go far enough. “There are additional real, tangible actions the governor could take to meet the moment and tackle this crisis head-on, but convening taskforces in 2022, delaying urgent actions for at least a month, and pushing funding discussions to the January budget proposal do not provide the sense of urgency needed to address this crisis now,” the coalition said in a letter. The group urged Newsom to take drastic steps including suspending air quality rules governing truck emissions, allowing cities to drop prohibitions on unloading goods at stores after hours and expediting permitting processes for warehouses.