Key Currency Exchange Rates for Friday, 10/15/21

American Dollar to Canadian Dollar = 0.766065; American Dollar to Chinese Yuan = 0.152256; American Dollar to Euro = 1.186356; American Dollar to Japanese Yen = 0.009631; American Dollar to Mexican Peso = 0.049618.

The immediate future of the global supply chain rests on a bargaining table in San Francisco, where the union representing all West Coast dockworkers is hashing out a new contract with the assembled bosses of maritime shipping. The current contract, which covers the International Longshore and Warehouse Union’s more than 22,000 workers at the 29 ports dotting the Pacific coast of the U.S., is set to expire July 1. At stake is the continuing flow of goods into the country, after two years of disruptions to the supply chain from pandemic lockdowns, material shortages, soaring fuel prices and the occasional giant ship getting stuck in the Suez Canal. Forty percent of all U.S. maritime imports pass through the West Coast ports, with more than 30% of all containerized imports arriving at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which together make up the nation’s largest port complex.

California rang in the new year by delaying enforcement of its "Advanced Clean Fleets" Regulation, which requires trucking companies operating in the state to purchase an increasing percentage of electric trucks in the coming years. While enforcement was slated to begin this week, officials at the California Air Resources Board agreed to pause the registration and compliance requirements until the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grants the regulation a green light to proceed. It's an inauspicious start for a program that's on a clear collision course with reality. Reporting from the Wall Street Journal validates what ATA has been telling lawmakers for many months: the charging infrastructure, power generation and transmission, product performance, and operational parity required for such a policy to succeed are nowhere near ready. The WSJ report illustrates how even drayage operators—those who run short-haul routes to and from ports and other intermodal facilities—are struggling to charge their equipment and maintain deliveries on time.