Governors call for loosening of federal regulations in the trucking industry

A team of Republican Governors has signed an executive order calling for fewer regulations in the trucking industry in an attempt to address the recent supply chain slowdown. 

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, along with 15 other Republican Governors across the country, launched “Operation Open Roads” on Monday, November 22nd as a way to tackle the perceived ‘truck driver shortage.’

“We have worked together with 15 governors across the country to provide a pathway forward for decreasing the supply chain challenges,” Lee said, reported Knox News.

The order directs the Department of Safety and Homeland Security to study state laws that “unduly burden” truckers, and determine which might be amended in the upcoming legislative session. The order also directs the Department of Military and Department of Corrections to directly promote CDL training for former service members and formerly incarcerated individuals. 

“Getting goods to market is a fundamental baseline of our open economy, and under the Biden Administration, the American supply chain is in crisis,” Lee and the other governors wrote in a letter to the president, reported Fox 17.

“With 7.4 million people unemployed and 10.4 million job openings, we have a shortage of 80,000 truck drivers, an all-time high for the trucking industry,” the letter says. “With more paychecks at risk, American families are forced to pay more for food, gas and everyday goods as inflation surges to a 30-year high under President Biden’s watch.”

The governors also say that they are using their authority to modify weight, size, and load, and hour restrictions, along with removing educational and licensure barriers where possible.