Maritime and offshore news trusted by our 88,733 members delivered daily straight to your inbox.
Stacked containers are shown as ships unload their cargo at the Port of Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California, U.S. November 22, 2021. REUTERS/Mike Blake
Former 4 Star Army General Appointed As New White House Port Envoy
The White House and the U.S. Department of Transportation announced Friday the appointment of retired General Stephen R. Lyons, former Commander of the U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM), as the Biden Administration’s new port envoy to address bottlenecks in the supply chain, speed up the movement of goods, and help lower costs for American consumers.
Lyons will take over the role of Port and Supply Chain Envoy to the Biden-Harris Administration Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force from John D. Porcari, who has been the port envoy since August 2021. In his new role, hewill work with the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), the White House National Economic Council (NEC), ports, rail, trucking and other private companies across the nation’s supply chains to continue to address issues in the supply chain.
Retired General Stephen Lyons
Lyons brings to the table a little over three years worth of experience leading USTRANSCOM, a Combatant Command of the Department of Defense responsible for coordinating transportation services for the U.S. military and government, from 2018 to 2021. Prior to that her served as USTRANSCOM deputy commander from 2015- 2017. His military career spans 36 years of service. He also holds two master’s degrees, one from the Naval Postgraduate School in logistics management (1993); and a second from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in national resource strategy (2005).
The Supply Chain Distruptions Task Force was set up in June of 2021 to address “supply and demand mismatches” amid the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg leads the task force’s focus on ports and trucking issues, among others. The Task Force’s leadership also includes Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on food and agriculture and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on homebuilding and semiconductors.
“The Biden-Harris Administration has made tremendous progress on addressing the supply chain disruptions we’ve seen as we recover from the pandemic,” said Retired General Lyons. “I look forward to rolling up my sleeves and continuing to engage industry, labor, and port stakeholders to improve the fluidity of our supply chains, cut down on shipping costs, and ultimately save money for the American people.”
Some of the Task Force’s signature initiatives have inlcude proposing the container dwell fee to reduce congestion at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, a trucking action plan to recruit and retain more drivers, funding pop-up container yards to get goods “from ships to shelves” faster while supporting agricultural exporters, moving supply chain operators toward 24/7 operations, and launching a data sharing platform, Freight Logistics Optimization Works (FLOW), with a number of the nation’s top retailers, ocean shippers, ports, and additional stakeholders, according to the Department of Transportation.
“Together, these actions are leading to progress,” the Department of Transportation said in a statement. “Long-dwelling containers at the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach have dropped by about 50 percent since the proposed fee. The total number of container ships waiting to enter U.S. ports has dropped by nearly 50% since peaking in early February – even as containerized imports increased for most ports in March. And both the Ports of LA and Long Beach had record months in April in terms of container throughput. In addition, 2021 was the best trucking employment year since 1994. Goods are successfully being delivered to shelves and inventories excluding autos are at their highest levels in history. Further, USDOT has put out historic investments in the tens of billions to upgrade our aging infrastructure.”
“Envoy John Porcari has done a tremendous job addressing challenges at every stage of the supply chain, and goods have moved more quickly and affordably because of his actions,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “Global supply chains will remain fragile as long as the pandemic continues to disrupt ports and factories around the world, and a lot of work remains to reduce shipping delays and costs for American families. We are grateful that General Lyons, formerly commander of the U.S. Transportation Command, will now take on the role of Ports and Supply Chain Envoy, working across every level of government, labor, and industry to strengthen America’s supply chains.”
The Port of Savannah handled 413,300 TEUs in August, down 28 percent from August 2022, the Georgia Ports Authority’s busiest month on record. However, Roll-on/Roll-off cargo saw an 8% increase,...
Loaded exports are helping to support overall volumes at Port Houston’s container terminals as loaded import volumes fall compared to record levels in 2022. Export volumes at Port Houston have...
SEACOR Holdings Inc. has announced the sale of Seabulk Towing Holdings’ U.S. harbor towing operations and tugs to E.N. Bisso & Son Inc. and Bay-Houston Towing Co. The transactions include...
September 25, 2023
Total Views: 2540
Let gCaptain be your compass for maritime news
The news that you need delivered every morning.
Sign Up Now for gCaptain Daily
We’ve got your daily industry news related to the global maritime and offshore industries.
OUT AT SEA?
We’ve got you covered with trusted maritime and offshore news from wherever you are.
OUT AT SEA?
We’ve got you covered with trusted maritime and offshore news from wherever you are.
JOIN OUR CREW
Maritime and offshore news trusted by our 93,906 members delivered daily straight to your inbox.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.