West Coast Port Employers, Union Reach Tentative Five-Year Agreement

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2. If it's ratified

Last edited Sat Feb 21, 2015, 12:19 PM - Edit history (1)

Just watch the containers flying on and off the ships. 15 years ago when I was working in international shipping, the daily cost of a ship was $50,000 a day, whether steaming or in port. Today, with much larger ships, that cost has to be close to double. Ship operators need to get their vessels back on schedule

Big problem is the independent drayage companies and owner operators that haul the containers to and from the container terminals. I'm pretty sure the contract negotiations didn't even consider them. The number of these drayage guys have been shrinking in number for years and for good reason.....they're constantly getting screwed with long wait times (even in the best of times) and low pay. The independents just can't survive with the prevailing rates.