Gov. Henry McMaster joined 14 other Republican governors in a joint letter denouncing the U.S. supply chain crisis and the Biden Administration's handling of the situation. | File
Gov. Henry McMaster joined 14 other Republican governors in a joint letter denouncing the U.S. supply chain crisis and the Biden Administration's handling of the situation. | File
Gov. Henry McMaster recently joined 14 other Republican governors in a joint letter denouncing the U.S. supply chain crisis while placing the blame squarely on President Joe Biden.
The letter, Operation Open Roads, spurred McMaster to execute an executive order that suspends certain commercial vehicle regulations and provide transportation waivers to support and strengthen South Carolina's supply chain system, according to a news release from McMaster's office.
“Further, we call on the Biden Administration to suspend outdated federal regulations that unnecessarily require commercial driver’s license holders to be 21 years old and lower the age to 18 years old so that well-trained, working adults can work across state borders,” the letter said in part. “In addition, we call on President Biden to suspend the burdensome federal mandate for COVID-19 vaccines for all private employees, specifically for the trucking and transportation industry so that driver shortages are not further exacerbated by an additional barrier to employment.
McMaster tweeted his support for Operation Open Roads.
“I have joined #OperationOpenRoads alongside 14 of my colleagues to combat the supply chain crisis ahead of the holiday season,” McMaster wrote. “Further, I have issued an executive order to suspend certain commercial vehicle regulations and provide waivers to support South Carolina’s supply chain.”
McMaster's executive order waives or suspends application or enforcement of certain state and federal regulations about registration, permitting, size, and hours of service for commercial vehicles and operators of commercial vehicles.
The order also calls upon state agencies to evaluate statutes and regulations that if modified, will provide relief to the supply chain. According to the order, it will give South Carolina's ports and businesses additional tools to more efficiently move cargo statewide.
For the most part, the state has managed to persevere through the supply chain crisis by keeping the Port of Charleston open with the use of McMaster's Emergency Education Relief (GEER) funds, which have provided retraining programs for high-demand career fields like truck driving, according to governor's office release.
Since January, 283 South Carolinians received their Commercial Driver’s License through the program, the release said.
McMaster has also created the Workforce Scholarships for the Future pilot program with an investment of $17 million through GEER aimed at addressing the state's labor shortage by providing scholarships to residents at state technical colleges.
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