Port of Oakland getting $36 million in federal funding for infrastructure upgrades
OAKLAND -- It's been a pretty wild ride at the Port of Oakland over the past year or so. First, the big backlog during the supply chain crunch and now a slowdown. The port, however, is about to get a lot of federal money to prevent the next backlog.
"There is not good organization in the port," said Hocine, a truck driver waiting in his cab. "All three ports are bad. We spend a lot of time waiting."
It is not uncommon to hear truck drivers complain about waits at the Port of Oakland, even as traffic here has died back in recent months, slowing with the economy.
"It's crazy," Hocine said of the slowdown. "Sometimes I do one load. Sometimes I stay the whole day without doing anything."
Back in 2021, the pandemic, and the consumer demand that came with it, pushed our ports and our supply chains to the limit.
"If you think about it, as the place gets busier and busier, the containers get stacked higher and higher, then per move out there's much more work to be done," UC Berkeley Prof. Robert Leachman said during the big pandemic-related supply chain backlogs. "So it's not linear. The amount of work and congestion grows exponentially."
Since then, the White House has been promising investments to prepare for the next big crunch, and now Oakland will receive more than $36 million dollars for a new container support facility and other infrastructure upgrades. The Port of Oakland would not comment Thursday on what the money might mean for improved service - but ask a truck driver, and they will have some expectations.
"Oh yeah, for sure," Hocine laughed. "$36 million is a lot of money."
Oakland is actually getting a little bit more money out of this than Los Angeles which is receiving around $31 million. The Port of Oakland is expected to make an official announcement, with more details, as soon as Friday.