WASHINGTON D.C. (NEXSTAR) – The Department of Transportation announced new grants to upgrade ports all around the nation.
Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said the $450 million in grants, from the bipartisan infrastructure law, will help tackle supply chain issues and inflation.
“To fund improvements from adding capacity, to linking rail into our port network, anything that will help ports move more efficiently in this country,” Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg explained.
Get daily news, weather, breaking news and alerts straight to your inbox! Sign up for the abc27 newsletters here.
Secretary Buttigieg said the upgrades to ports will tackle the supply chain problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic, fix decades of under investments, and provide much needed upgrades to handle modern ships.
“Sometimes, even in our biggest ports, a whole new channel has to be dredged to a deeper level or a bridge has to be replaced because these ships are so big, they can't fit under it,” Buttigeig said.
Buttigieg said these investments are necessary for the U.S. to remain a world leader and ultimately help lower the prices of goods.
However, the physical infrastructure upgrades could take years to complete.
Buttigieg said that's why the administration is also working on more immediate solutions.
“Pushing toward 24/7 operations, setting up things like temporary pop up container yards to clear some of the containers inland when there's not enough room in the ports themselves,” Buttigieg explained.
Buttigieg said another effort to resolve supply chain problems, is a push by the administration to produce more things domestically.
0 Commentaires