Now that the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act has been signed into law, can we expect to see some immediate relief from the recent supply chain chaos and congestion that our industry has been struggling with?
We hate to sound like Debbie Downer. But probably not.
While the new law has established an Office of Multimodal Freight Infrastructure and Policy to help create more agile freight policies, it won’t be possible for these policies to be created and pass muster with everyone who needs to sign off on them overnight. The same holds true for the $100 billion in discretionary funding that is earmarked for improving supply chain efficiency.
This law was never intended to be an immediate remedy for the epic bottlenecks, delays and shortages that we’re currently experiencing. Instead, it was designed to be an investment in the continued health of the roadways, railways, ports and airports that help keep our economy moving, including many that have long needed extensive expansion or repair.
Expect the real benefits of this law to take years to reach fruition, not just weeks or months.
