Truck drivers may be suffering from gridlock. This may be because of container shipping backlogs that choke U.S. ports. This especially may impact the fourth of July. In which case, the National Fireworks Association on Wednesday has said before that this is due to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg not allowing for levels to return to the way things were before the pandemic. “If this is not done within the next few weeks, we fear that this year’s fireworks season will never take place.” Shipping times from China for instance had doubled in amount to 60 days. No pun intended, container rates for fireworks have exploded. It may even take three weeks just for containers to get through the gridlock of ports in SoCal.

Lately, shippers stuck in gridlock have also been complaining.

While it remains unsure what Buttigieg is trying to do to better the situation, the DOT is also unsure of what to do when it comes to port congestion. Because of the COVID pandemic, a large slew of orders hitting gridlock has the e-commerce market swamped. In a way that doesn’t allow carriers to deploy the vessels and move freight through gridlock.

What else makes this situation inconvenient is the fact that dockworkers and vessels are stuck waiting for more than a week. And therefore everything is just going to feel real backed up. Who knows how this will all turn out? Some people suggest that the FMCSA and the Federal Highway Administration should adopt truck weight standards. The federal gross vehicle weight limit for over-the-road commercial vehicles happens to be 80,000 pounds. And yet, several states are able to exempt towards 105,000 pounds. This is thanks to the usage of a triple axle minimizing weariness on the road.

It’s not fair for carriers to charge higher rates, due to improper scheduling. This shouldn’t be the case, they believe as affiliate terminal operators are profiting off of late fees for pickups and returns that take forever for the customer.