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Near-shoring is one of the biggest economic transformations sparked by the pandemic: Shrink the length of the supply chain to keep production closer to its final destination and reduce the risk of some snag messing things up along the way.

The potential harm that a proposed federal vaccine mandate could have on trucking was spotlighted by an industry executive who outlined for lawmakers key challenges facing motor carriers as they work to deliver goods across an increasingly stressed supply chain.

WASHINGTON — To help alleviate ongoing supply chain woes, a senior transportation policymaker in the U.S. Senate suggested federal agencies as well as industries look to ports along the Great Lakes.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that U.S. reliance on foreign supply chains has proved a vulnerability and that the country needs to produce more critical goods domestically to protect its economic and national security.

McLane Co. Inc. announced Chris Smith joined the company as president of McLane Grocery, a $33 billion business unit that provides supply chain service to more than 70,000 retail locations.

Three core economic sectors of trucking are showing strength, but disruption from the omicron variant of the coronavirus hangs over the industry as it heads into 2022, American Trucking Associations Chief Economist Bob Costello said.

A growing cohort of smaller companies that survived the cold depths of the pandemic say now they’re in danger because the economy is too hot.

President Joe Biden said his administration has made strides toward relieving U.S. supply chain disruptions, as he met Nov. 29 with the leaders of major retailers including Walmart Inc. who assured him they have ample inventories for the holiday season.

The Biden White House took another step to resolve supply chain complications, directing federal agencies to prioritize programs and rules that would bolster commercial supply chains, as well as domestic manufacturing.

An Anchorage, Alaska, economic development group, alongside Anchorage airport and shipping officials, is making a pitch for what they say is an unexploited maritime shipping route from Anchorage to the U.S. Northwest that could help unlock West Coast shipping snarls.