VANCOUVER, (July 5, 2005) — Progress has been made in ending an 11-day strike involving container haulers working at the Port of Vancouver.

The Globe and Mail is reporting that lawyers for the truckers — who are represented by the Vancouver Container Truck Association — may be close to reaching a deal brokered by a government mediator.

Trucking companies, shippers, and the truckers have agreed on the concept of a standardized rate for Port of Vancouver independent container haulers, the newspaper reports.

About 1,200 independent truckers shut their engines off in protest over low pay and high fuel prices. The owner-ops were originally demanding a fuel surcharge and a general increase of 15 percent. Over 40 percent of container freight at the Vancouver Port — worth about $30 million a day — is moved by truck.

Craig Paterson, who is representing the Vancouver Container Truck Association in the negotiations, told The Globe in an interview that a standardized rate would end years of cutthroat competition among the drivers and their carriers. However, he stressed there is still no agreement yet as to what the rate should be.

The action comes as mediator Vince Ready was appointed by the BC government on the weekend to try to end the strike.

Meanwhile, containers full of goods continue to pile up on the port’s docks.

Carriers have expressed to Today’s Trucking their sympathies for the truckers, (www.todaystrucking.com/displayarticle.cfm?ID=4151), but a very tight and competitive container hauling sector is preventing company owners from unilaterally hiking driver pay without other carriers’ and customer support.

“No one wants to lose money,” Paul Campbell, president of North Burnaby, B.C.-based TorVan Container Express Line, told TodaysTrucking.com. “I don’t want to be the first to give a pay increase and not get backed up for it. Then there’s 46 other companies that don’t do it, and I could be out of business.”

— with files from the Globe and Mail