American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear says that many of today’s supply chain issues can be traced back to the country’s slow return to work, a recent interview shows.
During an appearance on ‘Mornings with Maria,” Spear blamed the current supply chain issues on a “chronic shortage of talent” that has led to cargo sitting unused at US ports across the country, reported Fox Business.
“I think we are at the edge of a cliff right now,” Spear said during the interview, noting that truckers are moving more freight with fewer drivers and “even less equipment in many instances.”
“I think a year of policies that have led us there generally stem from rewarding people not to return to work. [There is a ] chronic shortage of talent, not just in trucking where we’re short 81,000 drivers, but across every sector of employment.”
Spear’s statements come after November’s record setting 11.03 job openings and December’s slightly lower 10.6 million job openings. To top it off, inflation hit a 40 year high as of December 2021, and the consumer price index rose 7% in December as compared to the previous year.
“We are all taking a pay cut in 2022 as a result of bad policies,” Spear continued.
“But it doesn’t have to be this hard or this long if you institute good policy, rather than just being perceived as doing something, you’ll move out of this COVID-induced rut a lot faster.”
Spear also criticized vaccine mandates, noting that “adding additional headwind” to an industry that is “moving 72% of the domestic freight” will only make supply chain recovery more difficult.
“If you’re concerned about the supply chain, adding additional layers and mandates on top of that is not going to make it any easier,” he said.