DALTONCOOL, Author at Transportation Intermediaries Association

MARCH 2, 2022 – ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA – The Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), the voice of the third-party logistics (3PL) industry, released the following statement following the House Homeland Security Committee’s bipartisan approval of H.R. 6826, the “C-TPAT Pilot Program Act of 2022.” TIA fully supports this legislation and applauds the Committee for its passage.

On behalf of the TIA and our almost 2,000 member companies, we are excited to have movement on a piece of legislation that is crucial to our membership base. This policy is common sense, long overdue, and should be quickly put on President Biden’s desk for signature.

“In the aftermath of 9/11, the Federal government, specifically the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) rightfully moved to harden our supply chain,” said TIA President & CEO Anne Reinke. “Unfortunately, during the implementation, TIA’s core membership was wrongly excluded from this program; H.R. 6826 will finally allow some of our members to be included.”

The problem is that non-asset-based 3PLs have been dealing with a competitive disadvantage for almost 20 years because of a willful decision by the Federal government excluding DOT-licensed property brokers. The legislation, which now has passed committee and is before the entire House of Representatives, creates a pilot program for 10 DOT-licensed property brokers and 10 warehouse entities to be C-TPAT certified to add value to the larger program.

TIA Vice President of Government Affairs Chris Burroughs further noted, “TIA is grateful for Representatives Slotkin, Miller-Meeks, Luria, and Womack for their leadership to address the issue that CBP created and start to change the status quo which has hurt 3PLs in their respective states.” TIA members are ready to get off the sideline and support C-TPAT with their enrollment. This legislation will increase jobs, increase business, and improve national security. H.R. 6826 is the companion bill to S. 2322, which passed unanimously in the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and awaits a vote on the Senate floor.

JANUARY 21, 2022 – ALEXANDRIA, VA – Today, the Biden Administration rolled out their vaccine mandate for non-U.S. citizen truck drivers entering the country. In a reversal of previous public statements, the Administration decided now is the best time to restrict the free-flowing movement of goods across the border, as the nation continues to face a global pandemic and a supply chain crisis. This comes on the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on January 13, 2022, that the Administration’s mandate for vaccine requirement for companies over 100 employees, was unconstitutional. The truck driving profession in the United States, Mexico, or Canada does not differ in terms of the nature of the business and this new action runs contrary to previous positions and statements.

Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA) President and CEO, Anne Reinke said this on the mandate, “Americans are struggling with higher prices and scarce goods, at the grocery store, the gas pump, and diners across the country. One way to make this drastically worse overnight is to take tens of thousands of truck drivers and forbid them from entering the country, leaving countless amounts of essential freight at the doorstep of our country.”

TIA and our members are uniquely positioned in the supply chain to drive the conversation and provide solutions regarding the supply chain and the current disruptions. TIA continues to be an advocate for truck drivers and we are calling for an end to these misguided policies towards truck drivers. This time, our cross-border friends are being harmed at a time when they are delivering essential services.

TIA represents almost 2,000 member companies, many of which service customers who utilize cross-border freight. Mr. Jim Damman of MODE Transportation serves as TIA’s Chairman of the Airfreight and International Logistics Committee, states, “You could not have selected a worse time to further restrict essential goods into the United States. We are facing a capacity crisis, compounded by skyrocketing demand and inflation. We need to be supporting our truck drivers, not adding insult to injury by mandating vaccines.”

TIA stands ready to work with the Administration to address the COVID-19 pandemic, but not at the expense of businesses throughout the United States and the overall economy.

Author: DALTONCOOL

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