WASHINGTON – Amid ongoing delays at West Coast seaports, Congressman Vern Buchanan today led a letter signed by 17 bipartisan members of the Florida congressional delegation advocating for increased use of Florida’s 15 deepwater ports.
“As the holidays approach, American businesses and families are feeling the effects firsthand of the continued supply chain bottlenecks,” said Buchanan. “Given Florida’s unique geographic location, our 15 deepwater seaports can handle increased freight traffic and meet holiday demands for consumers around the country, and they are ready to get to work.”
In a letter to President Biden, the members offered to work with the Biden administration to utilize Florida’s ports as an alternative to the West Coast that continues to see unprecedented delays in offloading cargo, leading to severe supply chain congestion. Recent reports state that almost 90 cargo ships were left idling off the Port of Long Beach or the Port of Los Angeles while waiting to offload their containers. At one point, this logjam led to 17-day delays for ships, further delaying the arrival of shipments to consumers.
In just the last two years, the State of Florida has invested nearly $1 billion in projects to increase seaport capacity and plans to spend an additional $200 million over the next several years to improve the state’s roadways to handle increased freight movements. Additionally, unlike other ports across the country, many of Florida’s ports have been functioning at full capacity 24 hours-a-day, seven days a week, for quite some time.
“Today, our ports stand ready to help alleviate current systemic freight backlogs all over the country and are well-equipped to handle additional capacity,” said the members in the letter. “In short, Florida is open for business.”
Florida Ports Council President and CEO Mike Rubin praised the lawmakers and said, “The leadership and bipartisan efforts of Florida’s Congressional Delegation, is further demonstration that Florida’s seaports are open for business, and are a key solution in helping to alleviate the nation’s supply chain challenges … Special thanks to Congressman Vern Buchanan and Florida’s Congressional Delegation for his leadership on this important issue”.”
Earlier this year, Governor Ron DeSantis also announced that Florida’s seaports can decrease congestion along shipping routes and welcomed businesses to reroute their cargo to a port along our coasts.
You can read a full copy of the letter here or below.
Dear Mr. President:
As members of the Florida Congressional delegation representing our state’s world-class network of 15 deepwater seaports, we stand ready to work with you and your administration to help provide important and much-needed alternatives to congested shipping routes around the country.
In successfully moving over 100 million tons of cargo and millions of cruise passengers annually, Florida’s seaports currently support a vast array of global commercial industries. Working together with the federal government, Florida’s seaports can save consumers money, support American jobs, grow our economy and offer near-term relief for our nation’s current supply chain bottleneck affecting many aspects of our daily lives.
According to recent news reports, a back-up of almost 90 cargo ships waiting to enter either the Port of Long Beach or the Port of Los Angeles extended south almost to San Diego. This logjam meant cargo ships were waiting, on average, almost 17 days just to off-load their containers. We believe that our seaports are underutilized assets that can help reduce, if not eliminate, the delays plaguing our domestic supply chain and are asking you to work with us to help make this a reality.
In Florida, there are currently no delays at our ports in large part because many of them have been operating 24 hours-a-day for quite some time, while other ports around the country are just now announcing around-the-clock operations. With the holiday season upon us and the United States struggling to solve crippling congestion in our supply chain, our 15 ports and unique geographical location offer a more efficient alternative to certain West Coast ports.
Since 2019, the State of Florida has invested nearly $1 billion in capacity-building projects for our ports and plans to spend $200 million over the next few years to further enhance the state’s inland freight-handling capacity. Furthermore, our ports have matched these investments and are committed to using additional resources to expand their services to meet demand. Consequently, our transportation infrastructure can handle increased freight traffic immediately and that capacity will only continue to grow.
Today, our ports stand ready to help alleviate current systemic freight backlogs all over the country and are well-equipped to handle additional capacity. In short, Florida is open for business.
Again, we welcome the opportunity to work with your administration to help take further advantage of Florida’s 15 deepwater seaports and to serve as an important part of the solution to the ongoing supply chain crisis.
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