August 24, 2005
Moving Forward: Regaining Customer Confidence
"There is something fundamentally wrong when truckers must wait for hours to get to containers." — Report of Facilitator Vincent L. Ready, July 29, 2005
The Port's weB.C.ams reveal the line-up of trucks outside the port terminals begins before 6:00 a.m. The gates don't open until 7:00. Most will wait for hours burning fuel and time before it's their turn to haul a container out of the terminal. By 10 o'clock the rush is over. The terminals are quiet until the trucks trickle back for a second container. Most will manage two a day - down from four a day a few years ago before truckers had to battle the Lower Mainland's notorious traffic congestion.
It's the daily peaks and valleys of truck container traffic to and from the terminals that has the Port's retail customers uneasy about productivity at the Port of Vancouver. Lengthy wait times are counter-intuitive to the way retailers run their businesses. Productivity, for retail logistics specialists, is right up there with reliability as the Holy Grail of supply chain management.
Following the 1999 dispute, the Vancouver Port Authority attempted to address owner-operators' concerns about wait times by introducing a reservation system as a "smoothing mechanism" for the traffic peaks and valleys. Five years later, the early morning line-ups suggest the reservations system has been less than successful in producing a steady stream of trucks throughout the day and has not been without its problems:
| > | The reservation system is not mandatory. Most of the traffic is in separate lanes for trucks without reservations. |
| > | There is a high rate of reservation "no-shows." |
| > | Each of the four terminals (Vanterm, Deltaport, Centerm, and most recently Fraser-Surrey Docks) has its own reservation system with separate rules. |
| > | Trucking companies book blocks of reservation time and trade with other companies. |
Retail Council of Canada members say "fixing" the reservation system would be a highly visible signal that the Port is committed to improving productivity.
Recommendation: That the Vancouver Port Authority and Fraser Port Authority be empowered to mandate a 100% reservation system for short-haul container carriers.
(Long haul carriers cannot be certain of truck arrival times due to possible border delays, traffic congestion, etc.)
Recommendation: That the reservation system be inter-operable between Centerm, Vanterm, Deltaport and Fraser-Surrey Docks.
Recommendation: That an "accountability mechanism" be developed for truckers who fail to arrive at the reserved time and/or for terminals that fail to honour the reservation and keep truckers waiting.
The chorus from retailers calling for extended hours of port operation is loud and unmistakable.
Retailers are quick to point out that while the world's supply chains have evolved to 24/7 — including ship and rail at the terminals and inland rail yards — truck container traffic from the Port of Vancouver has not. The terminals' truck gates are open from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday to Friday — unchanged in the last ten years despite more than a doubling of container traffic in that time.
Members suggest this is analogous to a retailer opening its doors to the public 24 hours a day and then shutting down the cashiers for large parts of the day and night and expect business to be normal, customers happy and their needs met.
Retailers are aware migrating to 24/7 is not as simple as the terminals extending their gate times. Off-dock facilities and many smaller retailers' own receiving facilities do not operate 24/7. Terminal operators say they would consider extending gate hours, but they're not assured there would be sufficient traffic to justify the move.
Recommendation: Terminal operators survey key retail customers and other high volume container customers to identify potential participants in a "night gate" pilot project.
On July 23, while the Port of Vancouver was in the grips of the container truck disruption, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach launched a program designed to provide an incentive for cargo owners to move cargo at night and on weekends, in order to reduce truck traffic and pollution during peak daytime traffic hours and to alleviate port congestion.
Called "OffPeak" the program was created by PierPASS — a not-for-profit organization formed by marine terminal operators. www.pierpass.org
A Traffic Mitigation Fee is charged for cargo movement through the ports during peak hours (3:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.). The proceeds of this fee are used to keep the terminal gates open four nights per week and on Saturdays. It's hoped this private-sector solution will help speed the movement of cargo, reduce waiting time for truckers, cut the number of trucks in rush-hour traffic, and reduce air pollution around the ports.
By mid-July, more than 3,400 cargo stakeholders had registered for the OffPeak program.
According to PierPASS officials, during the first two weeks of the program, OffPeak shifts were typically handling nearly 30 percent of daily cargo traffic resulting in a noticeable reduction in congestion during peak traffic times on freeways leading to the ports, and relieving congestion inside the terminals. More than 88,000 truck trips were shifted out peak-hour traffic during the program's first two weeks.
Recommendation: That the Vancouver Port Authority use the "OffPeak" program as the basis for a study on incentive strategies to encourage off peak truck container movement at Lower Mainland terminals.
Retail Council of Canada supports the call of the B.C. Trucking Association (B.C.TA) in its brief to the Task Force that terminal operators seek productivity improvements from longshoremen under the current collective agreement.
A B.C.TA background paper states: "It is well known and, seeming accepted, that notwithstanding a start time of 7 a.m., longshoremen actually don't begin processing until 7:20 or 7:30. Similarly, the end of the day is not 4 p.m. but closer to 3:30 p.m. and the terminals stop providing service during lunch. While lunch is scheduled for 30 minutes, it often exceeds this time limit."
Recommendation: That terminal operators seek to maximize productivity within the terms of the current collective agreement of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union to ensure there is an uninterrupted, continuous terminal activity during their regular hours of operation.
Government's Role in Preserving the Rule of Law
A disturbing element of this disruption that has shaken the confidence of Retail Council of Canada members is the response of authorities to the violence and intimidation that characterized the work stoppage.
The Vancouver Container Truck Association, which claims to represent 1,000 to 1,200 owner-operators, effectively shut down truck container traffic from the Port of Vancouver for six weeks when its members voluntarily withdrew their services.
However, there are approximately 7,200 truck drivers in the "Port Pass" data base - the port identity card prior to the new license introduced in early August. Thousands of other truck drivers did not voluntarily withdraw their services but were prevented by concern for their personal safety and/or damage to their property.
No sooner had the owner operators parked their trucks than the violence and intimidation began.
Trucks that had crossed the dispute line were later sprayed with automatic weapons fire. A security guard was held at gunpoint while vehicles were vandalized. A brick was thrown into the bedroom of the son of a trucker who had exercised his right to go to work.
A Retail Council of Canada member reported: "When our carrier attempted to gain access to our container his truck was jumped as he moved through the line and an attempt was made to cut or sever his vehicle's brake-hose lines."
There were reports that some of the violence took place while police officers observed.
Retail Council of Canada contacted the Vancouver Police Department in response to a member who claimed police officers on the dispute line were stopping trucks attempting to enter the port. The officer allegedly asked the driver if he was aware that there was a "labour dispute" underway then allowed the truck to move on while protestors jeered.
Deputy Chief Max Chalmers said police were following operational procedures in a labour dispute and that they were not going to "take sides." He encouraged RCC members with an incident complaint to make a report to police for investigation. He further suggested that a court injunction and enforcement order should be sought by a business or individual wishing police to intervene on the dispute line.
Retail Council of Canada pressed the matter with B.C. Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General John Les who later indicated he had had a conversation with the Chief of the Vancouver Police to "express his displeasure."
Section 423 of the Criminal Code of Canada makes it a criminal offence to block or obstruct a roadway in order to compel someone to abstain from doing something they have the lawful right to do.
It is Retail Council of Canada's respectful submission that whether or not the work withdrawal was a labour dispute is immaterial. The role of government in such circumstances is to protect the rights and security of its citizens.
During a similar labour dispute in Quebec, that government legislated heavy fines for those involved in intimidation tactics and traffic blockades. This gives local police guidelines about how to enforce the law, thereby preventing the escalation of violence.
Retailers will not have their confidence fully restored in the safety and reliability of conducting business at the Port of Vancouver until such time as the governments of British Columbia and Canada expressly state that the rule of law will prevail in such circumstances and instruct law enforcement officials to conduct themselves accordingly.
If companies wish to conduct their own drayage, there need to be assurances such action will be free of repercussions of violence and intimidation.
Recommendation: That the B.C. government issue an unequivocal statement that it will use all legal means available to ensure individuals and businesses may freely pursue their lawful right to work in British Columbia.
Recommendation: That the Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor-General of British Columbia be requested to inquire whether the RCMP or municipal police forces have specific operational policies in place for labour disputes to ensure such policies do not authorize a separate standard of law enforcement in such circumstances.