Supply Chain News: Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force: Transportation Supply Chain Indicators

Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force: Transportation Supply Chain Indicators

March 1, 2022

Increases in cargo volume mean that our supply chains – particularly our ports, rail, and trucking that move goods throughout the country – have been stressed like never before. A shift from services to goods consumption as a result of the pandemic paired with both pandemic-induced supply and labor challenges and our aging infrastructure have caused disruptions across our supply chains.

Over the course of the past year, as part of the President’s Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force, the Department of Transportation (USDOT), along with the Departments of Commerce and Agriculture, have been part of an administration-wide effort to improve the flow of goods, make our supply chains more resilient, and lower prices for Americans. Freight and logistics supply chains are largely operated by the private sector. To support greater transparency about the state of our transportation supply chains, last fall, the Task Force released a dashboard tracking real-time challenges and progress across four key metrics. USDOT will continue to track those four metrics and expand it to include others to help build out a more complete picture of the logistics and transportation situation. USDOT’s Transportation Supply Chain Indicators Tracker (Tracker) will provide updates on key supply chain data – including measures  and indicators of intermodal throughput such as volumes of U.S. imports and exports, transportation labor numbers, the number of container ships anchored and loitering near U.S. ports, and more. The Tracker will give an in-depth look at how goods are moving through our supply chains, where there is progress, and where more work is needed. 

Resources:

Check out a full update on supply chain indicators from the Department of Transportation.