TRUCK owner-operator protests against California's AB5 labour law at the Port of Oakland has delayed the pick up of import container has has extended wait times for ships at anchor, report Washington, DC's Transport Dive.
AB5 seeks to eliminate misclassification and extend employment benefits to more workers, appears poised for enforcement by the state, despite protests from independent drivers who prefer the status quo.
Project44 said the volume of containers waiting to get into the port tripled as the protests blocked truck gates, the supply chain visibility company said. Five ships were awaiting berth as of July 24, while container dwell times stretched to more than two weeks.
Ocean carriers took notice, and some adjusted their vessels' routes. 'By the third week of July, the number of arrivals expected up to the end of August had already fallen 16 per cent,' said project44, a Chicago-based software information provider.
After waiting three days off the Oakland coast, the 9,000-TEU Maersk Altair headed instead to the Port of Long Beach, project44 said.
The Port of Oakland is all too familiar with disruptions hurting its operations. A Covid lockdown in Shanghai wreaked 'havoc on ocean carrier scheduling,' causing a 'ripple effect' that depressed cargo volumes and the number of vessels calling at the port in April.
Other ports could see vessels and cargo diverted from Oakland due to the protests, project44 said. 'As a result of carriers avoiding Oakland, congestion at other ports could be a side effect in the coming weeks,' it said.
Protests at three California ports by owner-operators followed the AB5 law's survival of a trucking industry challenge to the Supreme Court.
The Oakland port resumed normal operations as protests quieted on July 25, officials said. Some drivers continued the protests beyond the first week, but they were relegated to 'free speech zones' away from terminal gates under threat of a citation.
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AB5 seeks to eliminate misclassification and extend employment benefits to more workers, appears poised for enforcement by the state, despite protests from independent drivers who prefer the status quo.
Project44 said the volume of containers waiting to get into the port tripled as the protests blocked truck gates, the supply chain visibility company said. Five ships were awaiting berth as of July 24, while container dwell times stretched to more than two weeks.
Ocean carriers took notice, and some adjusted their vessels' routes. 'By the third week of July, the number of arrivals expected up to the end of August had already fallen 16 per cent,' said project44, a Chicago-based software information provider.
After waiting three days off the Oakland coast, the 9,000-TEU Maersk Altair headed instead to the Port of Long Beach, project44 said.
The Port of Oakland is all too familiar with disruptions hurting its operations. A Covid lockdown in Shanghai wreaked 'havoc on ocean carrier scheduling,' causing a 'ripple effect' that depressed cargo volumes and the number of vessels calling at the port in April.
Other ports could see vessels and cargo diverted from Oakland due to the protests, project44 said. 'As a result of carriers avoiding Oakland, congestion at other ports could be a side effect in the coming weeks,' it said.
Protests at three California ports by owner-operators followed the AB5 law's survival of a trucking industry challenge to the Supreme Court.
The Oakland port resumed normal operations as protests quieted on July 25, officials said. Some drivers continued the protests beyond the first week, but they were relegated to 'free speech zones' away from terminal gates under threat of a citation.
SeaNews Turkey