By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The White House has unveiled a pilot program to clear congestion in U.S. ports. It involves allowing truckers, shippers and wholesalers to exchange information.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and National Economic Council Director Brian Deese created Freight Logistics Optimization Work (FLOW), an initiative to share information “to pilot key freight data exchange between components of the supply chain for goods movement.”

According to the White House, “lacking digital infrastructure and transparency make our supply chains fragile and unable to adjust when confronted with shocks” and that it is crucial to increase information sharing. “Lack of information exchange could cause cargo movements from one end of the supply chain to be delayed, increasing costs and increasing fragility of goods movement,”

This effort has 18 initial participants: FedEx (NYSE :), UPS, Albertsons. Target (NYSE)

Buttigieg pointed out that U.S. supply chain are largely private or local owned, and that this effort needed a public partnership.

It doesn’t matter if it’s not done with a handshake. Buttigieg spoke at an event hosted by the White House. “Nobody can demand this level of sharing. But we know that it must happen.”

According to the National Retail Federation, imports to major U.S. ports of retail containers are likely to reach near-record levels during spring and summer. This is because consumer demand and supply chain issues continue to cause congestion.

“Growth rates have slowed down from the off-the-charts numbers we saw last year, but volume is close to the highest we’ve ever seen. NRF reported that while everyone involved in the supply chain is striving to decrease congestion, more work needs to be done.

According to the White House, the 18 participants are expected to work together in order “to reduce supply chain congestion” by creating a proof-of-concept freight data exchange before the end of summer.

In June, President Joe Biden established a taskforce to deal with high consumer prices and critical components. This was due to shortages and high demand for goods and labor.

Buttigieg pointed out Tuesday that the worst-case scenario for 2021 did not occur. “Christmas wasn’t in fact cancelled.” Buttigieg said.