A trucker strike has been launched at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in opposition to four ground-shipment companies involving hundreds of truckers, the action could potentially cause renewed labour tensions at the ports.
In a previous article published by PTI, the original dispute between the International Longshore Workers Union and the Pacific Maritime Association caused a number of US West Coast (USWC) ports to be shutdown, but has since been resolved with a new five-year labour contract for port workers.
Although the dispute had been settled, there were concerns around whether the backlog of containers could be cleared, with claims that it could take as long as three months to clear the excess.
Read a Technical Paper by the Port of Long Beach COO, Dr Noel Hacegaba
There is also the unease associated with higher trade volumes passing through to the US East Coast (USEC), as many shippers are using this route via the Suez Canal, which is due to be completed in July, 2015.
Neil Davidson, Senior Analyst of Ports and Terminals at Drewry recently said that this route can absorb more capacity and that USWC ports need to be careful that prices are not lowered along the USEC route, as many ports along the USWC could see a drop in TEU volumes.