Gov. Gavin Newsom traveled to the Port of Los Angeles on Wednesday to announce that his transportation department is expanding truck weight limits on roads and highways servicing congested ports. The temporary permits will extend through June. CalTrans has already been permitting oversized agricultural trucks on state highways to mitigate the driver shortage.
In addition, the Department of Motor Vehicles is extending hours on Saturdays at 15 sites. This will double the amount of commercial tests for new drivers to 9,700 per month. The state has also identified 42 temporary storage sites for parking excess shipping containers.
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Newsom noted that recent efforts like extending work hours at docks have led to a 32% drop in the number of containers that sit for more than nine days.
None of the $17 billion for ports in the federal infrastructure bill is earmarked for California ports specifically, but will be available through a competitive grant process. This means the state will have to “step up our game to be more aggressive, in terms of drawing down those federal dollars,” said Newsom.
