Truck drivers protest fuel prices, wages in California
A rally and work stoppage at the Port of Long Beach by independent truck drivers, upset about the rising cost of fuel prices, failed to materialize Monday, with truck drivers instead picketing at a Union Pacific rail ramp in northern California, according to trucking and port industry sources on the West Coast.
About 200 owner-operators — drivers who own their own tractors and subcontract with trucking companies to move containers to and from port and rail terminals — marched in front of the ramp to the Union Pacific terminal in Lathrop, Calif., according to Richard Coyle, vice president of Devine Intermodal, who had staff on the ground monitoring the situation.
The drivers want a 30 percent pay increase and reduction from three hours to one hour in the amount of free time they will sit and wait for a load without being paid, he said. The drivers did not block access to the intermodal facility with their trucks, but interchange activity was very limited with little cargo moving in and out, Coyle said. The truckers also picketed in front of Pacer Cartage, virtually shutting down the local trucking division of third party logistics and intermodal rail provider Pacer International, he said. The truckers are expected to go back to work today, he added.
Meanwhile, trucking industry sources say a port rally in the Los Angeles area might now take place on Friday.
Representatives from the local Teamster’s union port division presented a resolution at Monday’s meeting of the Port of Long Beach harbor commissioners calling for assistance to spread the burden of soaring diesel fuel prices, which are being absorbed by shuttle drivers who already work for barebone rates, according to port spokesman Art Wong. The resolution called on the harbor commission to set up some sort of group that would try to develop a plan for a fuel surcharge to help truckers deal with the higher cost of fuel, Wong said, adding he is not sure the commission has any authority to act on the matter.
A copy of a Teamster flyer distributed late last week called for a noon rally at the meeting, but only five people showed up, port officials said. The flyer also calls for a rally between 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. this Wednesday at the Los Angeles Port Authority harbor commissioners’ meeting. The flyer lists several grievances, including increases in fuel, road taxes and truck insurance as well as being forced to wait in long lines to pick up a load.
It is unclear whether another rally scheduled for Wednesday will materialize. Wong and several trucking industry officials say they have heard that a rally might take place instead on Friday. One industry source said Mexican radio stations have been plugging the rally on Friday. Calls to the local Teamster office were not returned.
Question raised include whether the Teamsters will throw up a picket line and whether drivers and longshoremen will try and cross it to go to work. A very small percentage of drivers have been organized by the Teamsters so far, meaning the union may have to bring in less-than-truckload union drivers or Teamster management to man the picket line. One trucking source said it was unlikely that drivers would join the protest in force because that would mean a day of lost pay they can hardly afford.
Diesel fuel prices in California this week average about $2.37. That amount is at least 30 cents more per gallon than in other parts of the country because the state mandates the use of more expensive, specially blended clean-burning fuels. The California fuel standard will become the national standard in 2006, but until then truckers in the state are at a disadvantage compared to truckers from other parts of the nation who can buy cheaper fuel before crossing the state line to make a delivery.
Trucking companies are frustrated at steamship lines that refuse to pay fuel surcharges to help them cope with the unexpected jump in fuel prices. In an effort to provide customers value-added convenience, vessel operators have taken on more responsibility in recent years arranging the inland movement of goods to their customers. Trucking officials complain that vessel operators typically set lower rates than they can negotiate with shippers and importers directly. Truckers say they are already operating on razor thin margins and cannot make money when fuel prices skyrocket unless they get some assistance in the form of fuel surcharges.
In the limited number of cases in which ocean carriers agree to pay a nominal surcharge of 1 to 2 percent, they want to pay based on the national diesel average rather than the higher California average, said a trucking executive, who asked not to be named out of fear of retribution by vessel lines. The industry official said vessel operators that do consider surcharges take so long to consider their applications that fuel prices have increased again by the time they make a decision.
“Most smoke you out forever with paperwork,” the executive said.
The executive’s company, which uses owner-operators for port work, has been able to bill an 11-percent surcharge to its direct customers and ones who specifically request vessel lines use the trucking firm, the official said.
The fuel issue is likely to exacerbate the driver shortage at a time when imports from Asia continue to climb, the official said.
“After awhile they figure out, ‘I can work over at McDonald’s and make more money, have better benefits and be with my kids at night,’ ” the official said.