Renewed flare-ups of drayage driver discontent at Port Metro Vancouver have revived concerns that trucker disruption could return to the port despite moves taken to quell unrest. The British Columbia provincial government has said that six trucking companies have failed to follow drayage wages set by the Container Trucking Commission while two are refusing to pay owed back-wages.
The port’s president and CEO, said while there may be instances where some trucking companies aren’t playing by the rules, overall conditions for truckers have improved significantly since early this year when a new and far-reaching trucking regime overseen by the provincial government was implemented in a bid to end years of disruptive trucker unrest. If there is one issue he says remains to be dealt with, it’s the view that there are still too many drayage trucks operating in the local market. He said that truckers are experiencing significantly lower turn times, with single move turn times now averaging between 30 to 45 minutes from pre-gate lines to out the door, versus 75 minutes 18 months ago.