Logjam at Our Ports, a Montana Trucker’s Perspective
We've all seen the images of the massive logjam at the ports off the coast of California. Is a trucking shortage to blame? Is the private sector to blame? Can we all just blame it on the 'rona?
We got a Montana trucker's perspective on the national supply chain issues, and the logjam at the ports in California. Jim Verhoef joined us on the radio during our LIVE broadcast from Missouri River Realty in Malta last week. He's a former director of the Owner-Operator Independent Driver's Association- a national trade association that fights for driver's rights at the local, state, and federal level.
We only had a few minutes with Verhoef since we had a busy lineup of folks joining us for our live show from Malta, but I found Verhoef's remarks very timely and informative. Here's part of our conversation.
Aaron Flint:
Case in point looking at our port situation in Los Angeles right now. I heard a caller into Mark Levin's program as I was driving across the state yesterday. The truck driver he said...California Governor Gavin Newsom has been designing the rules to keep us independent owner operators out of here and then you show up at the ports and if you don't get there by five o'clock well and now you're stuck sitting there waiting because of all the heavy handed regulations and then big labor sometimes hasn't been their best friend either. So that's caused some challenges that they're now starting to try to work through it sounds like but can you verify what that caller said yesterday?
Jim Verhoef:
Well, I can verify it. Absolutely because when I left Phillips county in the in the mid 80s I went to LA and that's not to be confused with lower Alabama but I hauled in and out of the the ports in North Long Beach and Los Angeles and the rail yards and you were lucky to get one load a day out of there just because of the hours and lines and lines of trucks to get in there. And you didn't get paid for that time. You got paid for the load. The dock workers themselves they're all union everybody else coming in was non union so there was you know obviously butting heads there with with labor and non labor and an independent you can't afford to do that.
What about California's heavy handed regulations? Nancy in Roundup asked if California regulations against owner operator truck drivers are partly to blame for the backup in our supply chains? Verhoef pointed out how California's regulations end up setting the standard for the whole country, and then screws up the whole country.
Here's the full audio:
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