Walmart upped the pay for truck drivers amid a severe driver shortage and tight labor market, it announced last week. Walmart Private Fleet drivers can make up to $110,000 in their first year with the company, Fernando Cortes, senior vice president-transportation, blogged Thursday, saying that’s “just a start”: Drivers who have been with Walmart longer can earn “even more,” based on tenure and location. The company launched a 12-week Walmart Private Fleet Development Program for supply chain workers in the Dallas and Dover, Delaware, areas who could earn their commercial driver’s license and become Private Fleet drivers. Walmart tapped its 12,000-driver fleet for certified driver trainers, who taught written material and oversaw driving with “months” of real-world experience, Cortes said. Walmart’s investments in pay and training “build on multiple recent driver bonuses and improved schedules that enable drivers to spend more time at home,” he said. A February New York Times article said the U.S. last year had a deficit of 80,000 truck drivers and trucking fleets are offering $10,000 cash bonuses to “court new hires.” The American Trucking Associations took exception to a March guest essay in The New York Times giving a 91% turnover rate in 2019 -- citing wages as the top factor -- saying the essay suggested truckers were leaving the industry. The trade group affirmed the rate in a blog post but said it “captures churn within the industry -- not attrition from the industry.” It claimed demand and opportunity are leading drivers to move among carriers with “unprecedented pay increases” across the industry. COVID-19 exacerbated an “extremely tight labor market,” ATA said, and now weekly driver earnings are at five times their historical average.

Comments are due May 23 at the Bureau of Industry and Security to help "inform the work" of the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council's Secure Supply Chains Working Group, says a notice for Wednesday's Federal Register. BIS said it’s specifically seeking feedback on how to “advance supply chain resilience and security in key sectors.” The agency is “particularly interested” in comments from foreign and domestic entities that “actively participate” in supply chains involving semiconductors, solar photovoltaics, critical minerals and pharmaceuticals, it said.

The Senate's passage of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act is “a major step in fighting inflation,” said CTA President Gary Shapiro Friday. The measure, S-3580, sponsored by Sen Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., would “address major supply chain challenges driving up costs to manufacturers, retailers, and consumers,” said Shapiro. The bill, which would boost Federal Maritime Commission authority to hold ocean carriers accountable, cleared the Senate by a voice vote Thursday.

Apple launched a $50 million “supplier employee development fund” it said will expand access to learning opportunities and skills development for employees in its supply chain. The fund also includes new and expanded partnerships with rights advocates, universities and nonprofits “to drive Apple’s ongoing work to empower supplier employees and drive improvements in knowledge of and respect for workplace rights across industries,” said Apple Wednesday. Participants in the effort include the International Labour Organization and the International Organization for Migration, it said.

Congress should abandon the Ocean Shipping Reform Act because it won't address the “root causes” of U.S. port congestion and supply chain bottlenecks, said the World Shipping Council Wednesday, hours after the Senate Commerce Committee cleared the bill Tuesday. The WSC, which represents many of the world's major ocean carriers, said the legislation doesn't do “anything to fix the landside logistics breakdowns that are at the heart of America’s supply chain problems.” Congress instead "should seek real solutions that take a comprehensive, forward-looking view,” and focus on investing more in port infrastructure and better collaboration across logistics sectors, said WSC. The bill was lauded by importers, who say it could help hold carriers more accountable.

Walmart picked Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, for its new 1.8 million-square-foot fulfillment center, and said Tuesday it will create up to 600 permanent supply chain jobs after it opens in the spring. Walmart fulfillment centers are capable of storing “millions of items that are picked, packed and shipped directly to customers as soon as next-day,” it said. Shippensburg is part of a broader initiative to add more capacity into Walmart’s supply chain, it said, noting its e-commerce volume grew 70% in the past two years. Shippensburg, in southern Pennsylvania, is about 40 miles southwest of Harrisburg.

Imports at the major U.S. retail container ports are expected to reach “near-record” levels this spring and summer as consumer demand and supply chain challenges “continue to result in congestion,” reported the National Retail Federation Tuesday. “Consumers are still spending and the supply chain is still working to keep up,” said Jonathan Gold, NRF vice president-supply chain and customs policy. “Growth rates have slowed down from the off-the-charts numbers we saw last year, but volume is close to the highest we’ve ever seen.” Retailers are also bracing for “potential additional disruptions” this summer from West Coast port labor contract negotiations, said Gold. U.S. ports handled 2.16 million 20-foot-long containers or their equivalents in January, the latest month for which actual numbers are available, said NRF. That was up 3.6% from December and up 5.2% year over year.

Gartner plans a supply chain symposium and expo June 6-8 at the Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort in Orlando, where supply chain executives will “gain a strategic view of the trends disrupting their business and the insights and frameworks they can use to prepare for disruption,” said the research company Monday. The conference will feature more than 100 “research-driven sessions” on nearly a dozen tracks that will take “a deep dive into industry-specific topics,” including retail and consumer packaged goods logistics, said Gartner.

Costco chartered seven ocean vessels for the next three years to transport containers between Asia and North America, up from the original three vessels chartered for one year (see 2109240002), said Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti on an earnings call Thursday for fiscal Q2 ended Feb. 14. “We've also leased containers for use in these ships,” he said. “With these additions, about a quarter of our annual trans-Pacific containers and shipment needs are being accommodated this way, which gives us additional supply chain flexibility.” Despite all the supply chain disruptions, “we're staying in stock and continue to work to mitigate cost and price increases as best we can,” said the CFO. "We've done a pretty good job" navigating the supply challenges, and "that's evidenced in our sales strength," he said. Sales in the quarter increased 16.1% to $50.94 billion and were up 16.4% in the fiscal first half to $100.35 billion. Container arrivals continue to be delayed, "so we continue to advance-order in many cases as we are able to," he said. "Chip shortages are still one of the things that are impacting many items, some more than others." Costco’s e-commerce sales in the quarter increased 12.6%, “on top of” a 75% year-earlier increase due to COVID-19, said Galanti. TVs and other consumer tech were among Costco’s largest online categories in Q2, rising by the high-single digits compared with “very strong sales increases a year earlier,” he said.

The World Trade Organization will host a March 21 webinar on the global supply chain crisis and its impact on international trade, said the agency Friday. The event will begin with remarks from WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and will feature representatives of WTO members in the fields of shipping, trading and logistics. It starts at 11:15 a.m. EDT.