Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville said Monday that he foresees National Guard personnel being put into service as truck drivers to ease a national logjam in the shipment of commercial goods.

The remarks, which were something of a surprise even to the shipping executive whose question the senator was answering, came as Tuberville spoke at a Forum Alabama breakfast presented by the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce.

Tuberville’s major talking points included a critical view of the Democratic infrastructure bill being considered by Congress, which he said devoted too little of its $3.5 trillion expense to actual infrastructure; rising tensions with China; the need for big government to get out of the way with its pandemic restrictions and to allow the nation to get back to work; and depiction of immigrants coming across the nation’s southern border as a disease-ridden, crime-prone rabble poised to overwhelm the healthcare and education systems.