General Motors, a heavily reliant JIT company, had no choice but shut down several factories due to lack of raw materials. On the first day, over 75,000 workers were involved and GM would have had a total production shutdown if the strike had not been immediately solved. JIT is dependent upon quick and easy delivery of goods and services. Interstate trucking is by far one of the largest means of this delivery. Recently, the United States Congress has introduced a bill to that would jeopardize lead times as well as delivery times.
Representatives have discussed a decrease in the number of hours truck drivers can be on the road.
Another common political problem facing JIT is the importation and exportation of goods. Earlier this year, U.S. Customs held several Hong Kong textile shipments in detention, which were suspected of illegal transshipment. U.S. importers lost valuable time by having to arrange the release of these goods. A few years after the Toyota Production System entered the mainstream of Japanese business, Nissan and a few other companies began to notice that transportation was a problem. Japan s dense urban areas were directly effecting the ability of JIT companies of getting quick replenishment.