MIAMI – Anger over fuel costs, insurance expenses and delays at cargo terminals has sparked a chaotic independent truckers’ strike that has affected the ports of Miami and Port Everglades, Fla.
The strike, which began Feb. 8, has left thousands of containers sitting idle at the ports. Miami has been hardest hit. Striking independent container haulers have blocked entrances to the port and threatened nonstriking drivers.
Cargo is moving more freely in and out of Port Everglades, which is located just north of Miami at Port Everglades, but many drivers are afraid to take their trucks into Miami.
Importers, customs brokers and forwarders say their containers have been stranded in container yards inside or outside the ports.
Although the Miami-area walkout has coincided with a Teamsters union campaign to organize container haulers at U. S. ports, it appears to have developed spontaneously. Other than voicing their support for the independent owner-operators, the Teamsters have played little role in the South Florida protests.
The union is planning a nationwide protest Friday by port drivers angry about the spike in fuel prices and long turnaround times at container terminals.
Settlement of the Miami strike has been complicated by the absence of a clearly defined leadership among the truckers. A loosely organized entity called Support Trucking Group has been at the forefront of the walkout, but it lacks legal authority to speak for all of the truckers.
In a letter to Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas, the Caribbean Shipowners Association claims that most of the container haulers “are willing to work, but they are afraid” of retaliation.
Mayco Villafana, a spokesman for the Miami-Dade county government, said there has been little progress in resolving the dispute. “We’re attempting to create a common ground where everyone can sit and discuss the issues. These things take time, ” he said.
The walkout has caused problems for ocean carriers, several of which use Miami as a transshipment point.
“We view this as a very serious situation, ” said Phil Connors, executive vice president of Maersk Sealand, one of the largest carriers at the port.
The Miami drivers, like their counterparts in other ports, are upset at the recent spike in fuel prices. OPEC restrictions on oil production have pushed crude oil prices above $30 a barrel for the first time since 1990.
“We recognize that the rising fuel cost has certainly added to the frustration that many of the owner-operators are experiencing, especially at ports where turnaround times are long, ” Connors said.
Maersk Sealand has attempted to address the situation by paying surcharges of 3% to 6. 5%, depending on the region. In addition, it has moved some container-handling equipment from West Coast ports to its terminal in Newark, in an effort to speed the flow of boxes in and out of the New Jersey hub.
At Miami, drivers are protesting not only fuel costs and delays at terminals, but insurance costs.
Drivers have complained that they’re required to buy insurance through trucking firms instead of having the freedom to shop for a better deal through insurance brokers.
Trucking firms contend that such requirements are the only way to guarantee universal coverage without forcing the companies to monitor myriad individual policies.
“Sometimes trucking firms get burned by owner/operators who say they have insurance, but then if an loss occurs it turns out they don’t have any, or the limits are inadequate, ” said Ron Thornton, president of the Inland Marine Underwriters Association in New York.
He said trucking firms sometimes require owner-operators to participate in the trucking firm’s master insurance policy because “it is difficult for a trucking firm to keep up with each trucker’s insurance coverage. So covering the trucker under the master policy is easier and more secure. ” Trucking firms may deduct the premium from the delivery fee, he said.
Trucking has become a major issue at U. S. ports. Most container haulers are independent truckers who work either under contract with a trucking company or on a per-day basis through a broker. Most drivers are paid by the trip.
Even before the recent jump in fuel prices, drivers were complaining that congestion at marine container terminals was cutting their income by reducing the number of loads they can haul in a day.
The Teamsters recently proclaimed a “Port Driver Bill of Rights” and announced a nationwide campaign to organize drivers.
The union faces an uphill fight, because most drivers are independent contractors instead of employees and therefore are legally ineligible for union membership.
But attorneys who represent drivers say many trucking company contracts, especially on the East Coast, prohibit owner-operators from driving for other carriers. They say that could be enough for the courts and the National Labor Relations Board to classify the drivers as direct employees.
The Teamsters plan demonstrations at Los Angeles-Long Beach and Seattle and elsewhere, said Ed Burke, a Teamsters spokesman.
