Transportation Sec. Buttigieg visits Savannah Port as supply chain congestion eases

Electric cranes loaded 40-foot shipping containers off a shipping carrier; trucks honked as they rounded corners framed by stacks of containers piled 50 feet into the air; tools to build the new terminal berth spewed mud and river into the air as men in hardhats swarmed the construction site.

"If you hear about strains in the supply chain, it's not because workers or ports, especially in a place like Savannah, are slowing down," Buttigieg said at a press conference Friday afternoon. "Quite the contrary. They are moving the most we have ever seen move. It's just that the demand is so far off the charts that it's going to take even more to keep up."

Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News

Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News

On Friday, Buttigieg was accompanied by Georgia Ports Authority Executive Director Griff Lynch, Chatham County Chairman Chester Ellis, Savannah Mayor Van Johnson and ILA representative Willie Seymour during his press conference at the Garden City Terminal. After the tour and press conference, the men were joined by U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Chatham, White House official Sameera Fazili and Georgia Dept. of Transportation Commissioner Arthur Tripp for a private roundtable discussion with retail and business owners.

Savannah's port has experienced sustained record-breaking growth over the past two years, leading to billions of dollars in expansions, infrastructure improvements and hiring sprees to meet the demand of increased consumer shopping.

Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News

Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News

"We cannot only make up for lost time investing in our ports and waterways and our roads and bridges and our rail and transit, but also get ready for the growth opportunity in the future," Buttigieg said.

Buttigieg visited the port to view the expansion projects — including the new Mason Mega Rail — and discuss how the newly passed bipartisan infrastructure bill will further alleviate backlogs and high demand at the ports and related sites. The $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill will funnel billions into improvements for ports, roadways, railroads and airports to improve travel and supply chain congestion.

The funding comes in addition to $8 million in reallocated federal funds that helped establish "pop-up container yards" in Georgia and North Carolina, which were envisioned as a way to free up terminal space at the Savannah Port, where shipping containers are stacked 10-high in spots. Buttigieg said the pop-up yards and other improvements by the GPA should be an example for other U.S. ports.

Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News

Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News

Carter, the U.S. Representative for the Savannah-Chatham area, voted against the bill and would "vote against it again," he said. Carter participated in the roundtable to hear ideas and solutions to the supply chain issues from business owners directly, not to help Buttigieg promote the infrastructure bill.

"What this bill included was more than that, only about 56% of it was true infrastructure," Carter said. "The other were Green New Deal initiatives. And not only that, but it was very disappointing, it was a missed opportunity for us to work in a bipartisan fashion."

The Green New Deal is an expansive policy reform proposal aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and creating a new workforce for clean energy jobs.

Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News

Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News

The transportation secretary also outlined a few programs the U.S. DOT is pursuing related to the trucking industry, including increasing recruitment and retention for the essential service. Nationwide, there is a shortage of 80,000 truck drivers and 300,000 truckers leave the field every year. Buttigieg said his department is working with unions and private businesses to "clear the red tape" around licensing and training to bring in new truck drivers, while retaining the stringent safety protocols that are required of people driving commercial vehicles.

"This is crucially important for the entire supply chain," Buttigieg said. "In order for these goods to efficiently move to where they need to go, we need to have the right kind of trucking workforce. But we don't have the capacity that we need right now..."

Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News

Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News

As the ports expand and the government doles out trillions in funding through grant programs, the impact on workers must not be ignored, according to Buttigieg.

"We've got to make sure that we're continuing to grow economic opportunity with jobs, but, importantly, good-paying jobs," he said.

Buttigieg added that Pres. Joe Biden's administration is working to increase unions and other support networks for the skilled labor jobs, such as the ILA, vital to keeping the supply chain running.

Buttigieg said he and the president will continue to advocate for union jobs, especially in states such as Georgia, which is one of the least-unionized states in the nation.

Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News

Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News

"These are workers who don't get to work from home, you can't Zoom into your job at the Port of Savannah or when you're driving a truck. We need to support them," Buttigieg said. "And I think unions are an important part of that support structure."

The ILA has three chapters that work at the Port of Savannah. President Willie Seymour said his workers "never stopped during the pandemic," and were vital to reducing the port's backlog from 32 ships to six ships in less than two months' time.

"I want you to know that the GPA and ILA stood strong amongst this," Seymour said. "We never stopped."

Zoe covers growth and how it impacts communities in the Savannah area. Find her at znicholson@gannett.com, @zoenicholson_ on Twitter, and @zoenicholsonreporter on Instagram. 

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Transportation Sec. Buttigieg visits Savannah Port as supply chain congestion eases