how about we send the military to LA?

[RussBLib]

... and Huntington Beach, California and unload those backed-up container ships? And bring in some big trucks to ship the goods across country? or planes.

We're not at war anymore. Are we? Military needs to do something constructive.

The labor unions might howl, but where are the union workers?

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. I like it as long as the reason they are backed up isnt a strike, which it isnt, I assume

[RussBLib]

2. no, the backup is not due to striking unions

I would also oppose military deployment to bust a strike.

at least, I have not heard of striking unions at the docks.

[Eliot Rosewater]

5. Good, my son and I were discussing this and couldnt figure it out.

Shortage of truck drivers is one thing but why would workers not want to go to the docks to do this work?

[7wo7rees]

7. Shortages, Covid. exhaustion, stress, injuries

Only starting now to consider round the clock operations, but probably not enough trained workers.
I think bringing in military to help is an excellent idea!

[marybourg]

8. Out sick w. Covid; dead from covid;

don’t want the catch covid.

[Eliot Rosewater]

9. Yeah I know that is a concern with everyone and has been for a long time, I just

couldnt understand why it would be worse now vs earlier.

[former9thward]

16. Are there links to any of that?

[marybourg]

19. I've read about it several times over

the past few weeks on the L.A and N.Y. Times. Perhaps search the LA. Times first, if interested. They’re pretty tough to access without a subscription, though.

[haele]

10. They are backed up because there is not enough working dock space.

Along with the required qualified equipment operators.
Once the pandemic slowed down port operations, those union workers either took early retirement or went to work other jobs when they got laid off due to Covid shipping curtailment.

Being a dockworker or crane operator is hard, dangerous work.
And it's difficult to "just rehire" qualified personnel once half of them have been gone for a year or so.

The issue is not just Port of LA and Long Beach, the issue is also with other West Coast ports where they closed down and are still trying to ramp back up to normal, they also don't have open dock space and enough workers, so they sent them down to LA, which had managed to remain somewhat open during the slowdown.

Haele

[Klaralven]

20. Once it becomes backed up and a confused mess, thing go from bad to worse

For example, truckers can't haul as many loads as before because they have to wait longer to get their containers.

It's not clear that things are well planned or that there is any overall authority for the movement of freight through the port. Do they know what containers are on the next ship to dock? Do they have the truckers arranged to get them out of the port ASAP?

The port is supposedly managed by the Los Angeles Harbor Department, a unit of the City of Los Angeles, but it's not clear whether that includes day to day operational management.

Possibly an Army logistics expert in overall charge would be a good thing.

[Eliot Rosewater]

21. Thanks for the info. I do remember that longshoreperson jobs are relatively high paying so I wonder

if they are hiring and training now. And yes dangerous, one of the highest work comp rates as I recall.

[maxsolomon]

3. does the military have extra shipping cranes?

[Amishman]

15. our navy has massive logistics capabilities and the ships for it

but we have huge bases too. I wonder if the huge naval base in San Diego could be used as a temporary additional cargo port? The navy operates its own container ships. The navy's Shughart class cargo / logistics ships are 900 feet, 55k tons - pretty close to the size of a panamax size container ship.

[UTUSN]

4. Hah!! - Thought this was the LA joke that got Tom SEGURA in trouble!1

[East-A-Squared]

6. They are doing it in England, according to a poster yesterday.

[sarisataka]

11. All those military guys just laying around the barracks

Getting fat off the government teat with nothing to do...

First problem- do you know how to offload a container ship? Guess what- most of them don't either.

[RussBLib]

12. I'm sure some training would be in order

... but they have experience in shipping all sorts of stuff overseas: planes, trucks, food, barracks, all sorts of logistics. And driving a truck is not all that hard.

it could be done

[sarisataka]

17. Insider secret-

Most of that shipping is done by civilian contractors.

The military does have thousands of drivers but most of them are not trained on semis. Truck driving school for a class A CDL is a minimum 6-8 weeks. You don't want to just toss the keys of a Peterbuilt to a 19 year old PFC and tell him to drive this truck to Omaha.

ETA> rail is more efficient than trucking however- Why The U.S. Army’s Rail Transport System Is A Wreck

[Calista241]

13. If you can magic up some dockspace and loading cranes, I'm sure they'd be happy to help.

[doc03]

14. This is is like a perfect storm shortages of everything, shortage of workers, increasing gas

prices and high inflation. Then ad the compete failure to get Democrats in line to pass our agenda. It the recipe for a total blood bath next year.

[Retrograde]

18. How about we buy less imported junk

and increase the manufacture of more necessary items here? As a country we managed to get by for decades without loads of inflatable lawn items - customized for each real or Hallmarked holiday - and other use-once-then-landfill stuff. (Yeah, I'm feeling curmudgeonly after walking past the 5th house with a yard full of inflatable pumpkins and ghosts - and the month isn't halfway through!)

[WhiskeyGrinder]

22. How about no.

[RussBLib]

23. ooo

very persuasive

[WhiskeyGrinder]

24. What can I say? Not a fan of using the military as scabs.

[RussBLib]

26. I don't think it's being scabs

There are not enough workers. AFAIK there are no active strikes on the docks, nor are truckers on strike. It would just be supplying some of the personnel that is needed until the companies and/or unions can staff back up.

[Captain Stern]

25. Hard pass on that, for me.

First of all, because there aren't a lot of military guys that specialize in 'unloading stuff'.

Secondly, I don't want to see our military used to solve 'problems' (real or perceived) at home