Biden says plan to improve supply chain is paying off

WASHINGTON, D.C. (NewsNation) — President Joe Biden on Monday said his administration’s investment in building the workforce is helping solve America’s supply chain woes.

“In the last 90 days, 100 major employers have launched new registered apprenticeship programs,” he said. “That all adds up to a pipeline of hard working men and women from all backgrounds, including a whole lot of veterans thanks to the veterans trucking initiative known as Task Force Movement.”

According to the president, trucking moves 72% of the goods in America. Meanwhile, trucking costs grew more than 20% last year due a decline in trucking employment that preceded the pandemic. Both factors are responsible for the supply chain shortage faced today.

Launched in December as a joint effort between the U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Labor, the Trucking Action Plan was aimed at addressing these interruptions by creating new pathways into the profession and improving job quality for employee retention, including provisions of $57 million in federal funds to help states issue these CDLs faster.

According to Biden, it’s helped.

“So far in 2022, we’re issuing (commercial drivers licenses) at double the rate of last year: 120,000 in January and February alone,” Biden said at the White House event.

“Typically, it takes about eight months to create a registered apprenticeship program. But we’re able to cut the red tape and now it takes as little as two days,” he also said later in the speech.

The Biden administration is under heavy pressure to both solve America’s inflation and supply-chain problems, but also get louder about things it perceives as a successes. Some 56 percent of the country disapproves of the way Biden is handling the presidency, according to a March NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ poll.

Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said Democrats needed to do a better job of highlighting their positive accomplishments.

“We’ve got a great story to tell. And we need to get out there and do a better job of telling it,” Clinton said Sunday on NBC’s Meet The Press.

Biden’s event at the White House focused on both the place he’s most challenge — the supply chain — and how the administration thinks it’s made progress. The president said the investments he’s made not only include more able bodies, but improvements in work efficiency and incentives to current and potential drivers.

For example, prior to the Trucking Action Plan, some carriers and drivers typically spent 40 percent of their workday waiting to load and unload goods — often unpaid. And because of hurdles such as leasing, gas, insurance and maintenance costs, many truckers are not directly employed and operate as independent small businesses.

“The labor and transportation departments are working closely with industry to tackle issues facing women in trucking, recruit and retrain more women drivers, so we can draw more Americans to work with increased wages, reduce wait times, and improve safety and so much more,” Biden said.

Biden admits, however, that there is still a long way to go.

“Folks, there’s a heck of a lot more we have to do … and it’s all centered around listening to you, the drivers. I’m looking forward to all the progress we’re going to make together.”