VANCOUVER, (July 14, 2005) — Owner-ops hauling containers in and out of the Port of Vancouver won’t be jumping into their cabs any time soon as negotiations between the truckers and their carrier companies broke down yesterday.

No new talks are scheduled.

Government facilitator Vince Ready shuffled back and forth between the parties all day but was unable to broker a deal between the newly created Vancouver Container Truck Association — representing 1,200 independent container haulers — and the carriers and shipper companies they’re contracted to.

Container fleets told Canadian Press that negotiations failed because of the truckers’ “ransom-like” contract demands. Bob Simpson of Team Transport Services, which represents about 40 employers, said the truckers’ demands of a 30 percent rate increase were unrealistic.

Previous media reports stated that the drivers were proposing a minimum of $75 per hour pay, a maximum 10-hour workday, and a 15 percent fuel surcharge.

Former Deputy Minister of Labour Richard Longpre, who was brought on by the carriers and shippers to represent them and work with Ready, told CP the employers will now turn to the courts and labour board rulings to end the strike.

While 60 percent of containers are transported from the port by rail, about $30 million a day worth of boxes is moved by trucks, driven mainly by VCTA members. Some non-VCTA truckers have been allowed pick up containers during the strike, but hundreds more continue to pile up at the port daily.

With no end to the strike in sight, port officials say more ships will have to be diverted to the Seattle or Tacoma ports, which are also seeing increased volume as the labour conflict drags on.

“As container terminals are unable to receive local truck-bound cargo, some of this cargo may be diverted to other ports of call,” the Vancouver Port Authority stated in a release. “Container ships carry cargo destined for both road and rail and usually stop at several ports on the west coast, not just Vancouver.”

— with files from Canadian Press