US president Joe Biden has hailed a new 24-hour working system, which he says will help to shift bottlenecks in US supply chains bringing products to market for Christmas.

But some industry observers do not share his optimism, believing the shift cannot be made so readily.

In yesterday’s meeting between the president and supply chain stakeholders, including shippers, port operators, truckers and unions, Mr Biden developed a plan to bring the US into line with other major trading nations in Europe and Asia.

Following the meeting, which included the directors of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Gene Seroka and Mario Cordero, which handle 40% of US imports, Mr Biden announced: “They’re going to help speed-up the delivery of goods all across America.”

Mr Biden said the port of Los Angeles had agreed to operate on a 24-hour, seven days-a-week basis, in line with Long Beach which has already committed to 24-hour working.

“This is the first key step toward moving our entire freight transport and logistical supply chain nationwide to a 24/7 system,” said the president.

He added that the shift would see ports operating 60 more hours a week, with evening and night time deliveries offering quicker delivery times due to the reduced traffic levels.

“So, by increasing the number of late-night hours of operation and opening up for less-crowded hours when the goods can move faster, today’s announcement has the potential to be a gamechanger,” claimed the president.

He added: “I say ‘potential’ because all of these goods won’t move by themselves.”

Mr Biden believes a commitment from companies such as Walmart, FedEx and UPS to increase their off-peak working hours by 50% will help thousands of small businesses across the country.

“The commitment to go all-in on 24/7 operations means businesses of all sizes will get their goods on shelves faster and more reliably,” he said.

However, the Teamsters union general president, Jimmy Hoffa, pointed out that one of the major challenges for supply chains had been a lack of available truck drivers.

“They are not paid a living wage and are largely treated as indentured servants. And that will continue until this country deals with the issue of misclassification which allows them to be subjugated by companies.

“If people can make an adequate wage with good working conditions, they will come to work. But that means they must be treated as employees who are allowed to organise with a union so they can negotiate proper compensation, benefits and workplace safety. Nothing will change until that happens.”