Waiting At US Ports Takes 50 Years From Truck Drivers – Research

According to the research, truck drivers working at US ports have been idle for a total of about 50 years in 2021.

The “idle time” data was collected by Lytx transport telematics company, at the ports of Los Angeles, New Jersey and New York.

2021 is not even over yet, and truck drivers in these two ports have been sitting in trucks with their engines running on average 24 hours a day, which is about 50 years of waiting when you factor in the wait for each individual truck driver.

Business Insider reports that this idling time has increased by 50% per truck between early 2018 and October 2021, a fact that can be at least partially attributed to the recent west coast port issues and subsequent supply chain disruptions. 

So far, the only notable steps the administration has taken to alleviate the port congestion is to expand port hours to a 24/7 schedule, but truckers and supply chain experts alike say that this move will hardly make a difference in the backlogs. 

“It’s great that they’ve chosen to do something, but we’re talking about a less than 1% to 2% change here,” said supply chain analyst Brian Whitlock. “The work that they’re talking about here is going to be immaterial. It probably won’t even be visible.”