#PortMetroVancouver: Diversions, Violence as Trucker Strike Continues The trucking environment in Vancouver is turning uglier by the day, with drivers who dare to work at the Canadian port facing retribution from striking drivers, and cargo diversion already becoming a reality. The consensus among maritime industry executives is that a solution to the bitter trucking strike must be found by early next week or vessel diversions will eventually be necessary because the congested marine terminals will become gridlocked. Marine terminals filling up with containers Peter Xotta, vice president of planning and operations at Port Metro Vancouver, said daily truck traffic is down to 10 to 15 percent of the normal volume, and except for a few spikes in traffic, has been at that level for the past 10 days. As a result, the marine terminals are becoming chock-a-block, and yet, each week new strings of vessels are arriving. A crisis is at hand. TSI Terminal Systems has informed its customers that if the strike does not end soon, vessels calling at TSI’s terminals early next week will only be able to discharge intermodal rail cargo. “We will not be able to handle CY imports,” said Eric Waltz, president of TSI Terminal Systems, the largest terminal operator in Vancouver. Container yard deliveries are containers that move to the local warehouses of importers. By contrast, most intermodal traffic leaves the port via on-dock rail, so those containers are not truck-dependent and do not have a lengthy dwell time. However, eventually that cargo will be shut out as well if the strike drags on, as it did in 2005, when truckers went out for six weeks. Some shippers are not waiting to see what happens. Ian May, chairman of the Western Canadian Shippers Coalition, whose members export minerals and other commodities that could move on breakbulk vessels, said some of his members are beginning to ship through other ports, while others are seeking to convert to breakbulk. Conversion to a break-bulk contract usually involves a commitment of eight to 14 months, May said. Drivers who dare to work face violence An undertone of violence has crept into the port community that no one wants to speak about publicly, but all concede that it is happening. The few drivers who dare to continue working are followed by strikers, and when they are out of sight of security, the vehicles are pelted with rocks and sometimes the drivers are pulled from the cabs and beaten. The port authority, along with the provincial and federal governments, are therefore attempting to broker an immediate solution to end the violence and keep the terminals from shutting down, while at the same time developing a long-term solution. Driver compensation is root of dispute Money is at the heart of the problem. Vancouver is served by some motor carriers that employ the drivers directly, whereas other companies rely mostly on owner-operators. The pattern has been for the owner-operators to strike, and then most of the employee drivers refuse to work because they fear retribution. Drivers say they are being grossly underpaid and can not earn a living. They say a 40 percent pay hike that harbor truckers received back in 2005 in a deal brokered by federal mediator Vince Ready is no longer sufficient, and in fact, some motor carriers are undercutting even those out-dated rates. Ready was called back into the fray over the weekend, and he quickly produced a plan the government believed would address the drivers’ needs, but they overwhelmingly rejected it. The drivers are reportedly asking for wages to double or triple. Delays also a concern for drayage drivers Drivers have also complained about lengthy delays at marine terminals – a complaint commonly heard in the U.S. at Los Angeles-Long Beach, New York-New Jersey and Norfolk. Waltz said that compared to some U.S. ports, TSI is actually performing quite well. He said 70 percent of the truck calls are completed in less than one hour, and that includes waiting in queues outside the gate. Only 6 percent of the trucks take more than two hours to complete their transactions. However, Louise Yako, president and CEO of the British Columbia Trucking Association, said terminal operators must take responsibility for problems they cause. Some terminals are not devoting sufficient resources to gate operations, or are rigidly enforcing rules in their reservation systems that truckers can not always meet due to traffic congestion or other unforeseen problems. Lunch breaks for longshoremen are the bane of truckers at container ports in Canada and the U.S. Whenever gate service is interrupted, even for a scheduled break, the time it takes to wind down operations and then re-start them after the break can double the time the gates are closed. Waltz said lunch breaks are difficult to address. Terminals can stagger their lunch breaks, but that involves offering 50 percent manning over a two-hour period rather than zero manning for one hour. Port seeks solutions for delays Port Metro Vancouver is promoting a series of short-term and long-term fixes that it hopes will eventually result in a permanent solution. Xotta said an infrastructure project that was completed last year eliminated 10 at-grade rail crossings, thereby removing a serious bottleneck in the harbor. The port, with government assistance, is equipping all 2,000 registered trucks in the harbor with GPS devices that provide real-time information to motor carriers and terminal operators for planning and efficiency purposes. About half of the trucks have been equipped, and the remaining ones will have GPS devices in time for the peak shipping season this summer, he said. Port Metro Vancouver is also developing an extended gates program that will provide regular and predictable evening and weekend shifts at the marine terminals. It will be patterned loosely after the PierPass program in Southern California that has been in effect since 2005. Xotta said the goal is to fund the program through a cost-sharing arrangement involving the major stakeholders in the harbor. That approach will not be universally popular. May said his members agreed to pay higher rates in 2005 and will agree to pay still higher rates if an equitable rate structure is developed now, but exporters do not want to pay a fee to the port or terminal operators for extended gates. “We’re tired of paying,” he said. The port authority is financially healthy and can afford to fund a program of extended gate hours, May charged. Most stakeholders, however, are growing increasingly concerned that Canada’s largest port may soon enter full-blown gridlock. If terminals shut out local CY cargo, truckers who want to work will see their work opportunities plummet. Vessel operators would have to drop off their rail cargo in Vancouver and then proceed to another port to discharge their local CY loads. If this situation develops, it won’t take long until vessels bypass Vancouver altogether.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 01:48:27 +0000
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