* Virginia - Truckers demand about the port congestion strategy
... At the Virginia International Trade Symposium, truck-driving men and women in shirtsleeves marched in protest on the streets outside... Truckers told that the port is taking the wrong approach and they’ve been left out... Their sense of exclusion has escalated in recent months as the port has experienced off-and-on near-unprecedented congestion, when the port shut down for four consecutive days after a winter storm. Productivity on the Virginia waterfront since then has dropped 50 percent, by some estimates... Despite the port authorities claims that congestion has been easing, truck drivers said they still wait in hours-long lines at terminals port-wide.
While average times have improved, John Andersen, an independent owner-operator protesting with fellow truck drivers says, wait times and turn times are now exceedingly variable, six hours at some terminals, two hours at others. It makes planning a day and running a business nearly impossible, he said... Some drivers have pushed for an hourly surcharge for owner-operators — what stakeholders at Thursday’s symposium called “impractical” ...
“But none of these drivers got into this to work for free,” George Berry, the founder of grassroots group For Truckers By Truckers told a panel "Be warned, the shippers and carriers sitting on the symposium’s panel that they would only see more truck drivers leave the industry altogether if something were not done. Aging drivers, tougher government regulations and waning interest in the industry among younger Americans have fueled an exodus of sorts from the trucking sector"... Driver turnover rates — the rate of drivers changing companies or leaving the industry altogether — was as high as 90 percent in 2014... Berry add, “None of the panelists on this stage sit behind the wheel of a truck... If we’re as important as you say we are, we need to sit on every panel you have.” ...
(Photo: Truck drivers frustrated with Port of Virginia congestion protested on Thursday outside the Virginia Internaitonal Trade Symposium) -- Norfolk, VA, USA - J.O.C., by Reynolds Hutchins - May 14, 2015Labels: truckers' demands, truckers' protests
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