LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The supply chain is moving much better than it was a year ago, so says Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
The former South Bend, Indiana mayor made a stop at the UPS Worldport in Louisville on Tuesday. The UPS Worldport is a major hub where many of the nation’s packages are possessed on to their destinations. Buttigieg praised the work of UPS workers in keeping up with demand as the holiday season gets closer.
He also touted the Biden administration’s push to fix supply chain issues caused by the COVID pandemic.
“The first thing that has to be said is how far we have come just in the past year,” Buttigieg said. “Americans were wondering if we were going to be able to get basic goods, not to mention things like Christmas presents when we needed them. The pandemic had pushed our supply chains to the breaking point.”
Buttigieg said the White House’s efforts are what have mitigated a lot of the disruptions in supply chains. He said that is illustrated in the number of ships that are waiting to be unloaded in major ports like Los Angeles and Long Beach, which was at a huge backlog a year ago.
“Right now at worst the number of ships waiting at anchor in the ports of LA and Long Beach is in the single digits,” he said. “We are often seeing that backlog completely gone.”
He added that the lesser backlog will help lower the price of basic goods at stores as Americans continue to feel the effects of inflation.
