The White House on Wednesday announced that three of the largest US goods carriers, Walmart, FedEx, and UPS, will move to operate 24/7 to address global supply chain challenges resulting due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The carriers will make commitments towards moving to 24/7 working during off-peak hours at key ports in Southern California.

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On Wednesday, President Joe Biden will meet with leaders of the Port of Los Angeles, the Port of Long Beach, California, and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union to discuss congestion at the ports and the extended hours. 

The President will also meet with Walmart CEO John Furner, FedEx Logistics CEO Udo Lange, and UPS President of U.S. Operations Nando Cesarone to address the supply chain shortages.

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A senior administration official said that “The supply chain is essentially in the hands of the private sector, so we need the private sector to step up to help solve these problems. Three of the largest goods carriers in the country, Walmart, FedEx, and UPS, will make commitments towards moving to 24/7, working during off-peak hours.”

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Thousands of shipping containers are on cargo ships offshore waiting to be offloaded at the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, New York, Savannah, and Georgia.

Due to a shortage of workers and Covid outbreaks, the shipping time required for some products to make their way from Asia to the US has doubled.

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The delays, which have persisted for months, have sent retailers scrambling to address the bottlenecks, including by chartering their private cargo vessels to get around the congestion, before the holiday shopping season.

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The UPS and FedEx combined to ship 40% of US packages by volume last year and that by taking this step

Target, Samsung, and Home Depot will also assist with the backlog. It will pave the way for smaller retailers to also get the goods from a 24/7 model, the officials said.

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The White House in June established a task force to address supply chain challenges in key sectors where “a mismatch between supply and demand has been evident.”