Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the "American Supply Chain Sovereignty Initiative" at the Port of Los Angeles, a plan to link ports, carriers, railroads and retailers in one federal freight dashboard.
"When it comes to our supply chains, time is money," Duffy said. "Fewer delays mean lower costs throughout the entire supply chain."
Two pieces: The initiative bundles a data play and a customs play:
A freight dashboard that gives shippers, carriers and ports a real-time view of where cargo is, so they can move freight faster and reroute around disruptions before they spread;
A container fast lane that speeds pre-screened imports through ports, which Duffy compared to TSA PreCheck for cargo.
Why the fast lane matters: Today, CBP inspects only 3% to 5% of the nearly 52 million containers that moved through US ports in 2025. The exact screening mechanism has not been detailed.
What it builds on: The plan expands FLOW (Freight Logistics Optimization Works), the voluntary data-sharing program launched in 2022. Membership grew from 15 companies and three ports at launch to 85 by December 2024, including:
Retailers like Walmart, Home Depot and Best Buy;
Carriers and operators across ocean, rail and logistics.
The catch: Sharing data among competitors raises privacy and competition worries. In 2022, Sen. Roger Wicker, then ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, urged DOT to gather "feedback from a broad array of transportation stakeholders and shippers." The new authorization would let USDOT set role-based access controls over who sees what.
What's next: None of this is law yet. Duffy is asking Congress to fold enabling provisions into this year's National Defense Authorization Act, still in progress.
For shippers and carriers weighing whether to join FLOW, the bill matters: if it passes, existing members, including the Port of LA and major retailers, would form the dashboard's foundation.
