Port Vancouver CEO calls for facilitator in truck dispute

VANCOUVER, B.C. – Vancouver Port Authority President and Chief Executive Officer, Captain Gordon Houston, is calling on both sides of a trucking dispute to move quickly to resolve the issue with a facilitator.

About 1,000 drivers belonging to the Vancouver Container Truck Association walked off the job on Saturday after failing to come to an agreement on compensation with the shipping companies that employ them, immobilizing between 30 and 40 per cent of the containerized cargo that normally moves through the port.

The port is calling for the immediate appointment of a facilitator to resolve this dispute, either by mutual consent of the parties involved, or directly by government, Houston said. The container sector is responsible for about $2.8 billion in total annual economic activity for our region and country. The estimated loss in economic activity in just one week is estimated at approximately $30 million.

The majority of containers moved by truck are those destined to or from British Columbia, so the impact on the provincial and regional economy is expected to be the most significant. While only 31 per cent of import containers are moved by truck, 63 per cent of those for export are moved by road.

The first to feel the impact will likely be local exporters of food and forest products, who rely on the container trucks to get their goods to the port. Other containerized exports that will be affected include specialty grains, such as peas, lentils and beans, and fresh and frozen pork. On the import side, industrial products, such as machine and auto parts, and consumer products including furniture, clothing and electronics that are destined for the British Columbia market will be impacted.

The Retail Council of Canada, meanwhile, is asking the federal Transport Minister to take whatever steps may be necessary to resolve the dispute, reports the Financial Post.

“There are no trucks going in or out,” said Anne McMullin, a spokeswoman for the port, who added that rail traffic is still moving smoothly.

Ms. McMullin said the truckers, who are mostly independent contractors, have established pickets at all of the port’s container terminals as well as Fraser Port, another facility south of Vancouver.

Last year, the Port of Vancouver moved about $43-billion worth of goods, mostly from China, Japan and other Pacific Rim countries.

Manufacturers who rely on imported components as well as some exporters are expected to feel the pinch, according to the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

The trucker strike comes just four months after TSI Terminal Systems Inc., the main terminal operator in the Port of Vancouver, was forced to cut inbound shipments by 25% in order to clear up an unprecedented container backlog created by a surge in 2004.

Container truck drivers say they have been hit hard by rising fuel costs with some claiming they bring home about $50 a day after expenses.