WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden will present particulars on Monday of his administration’s plans to step up the variety of truck drivers by drawing in additional ladies and veterans, because the White Home strikes to strengthen nationwide provide chains.

In an announcement, the White Home stated Biden could be joined by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in outlining the efforts to treatment long-standing weaknesses stemming from workforce challenges within the trucking trade.

The strikes are a part of a year-long drive to stiffen U.S. provide chains in opposition to local weather shocks and geopolitical rigidity, in order to make sure that China or different nations can’t weaponize the provision of products in opposition to the US.

Biden has centered on rebuilding U.S. provide chains after acute shortages of private protecting gear, together with masks and gloves, in the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a dearth of semiconductors that made vehicles costlier and helped push inflation to 40-year highs.

The plan to spice up the numbers of truck drivers, launched in 2021, has swelled hiring, with extra business driver licenses obtainable within the first two months of this yr versus final yr’s corresponding interval, the assertion stated.

Trucking strikes 72% of products in America and a few carriers routinely lose, and should change, 90% of their staff every year, White Home figures confirmed.