Port lockout taking toll on thousands of idled truckers

LOS ANGELES -- Unable to move any cargo for days, thousands of independent truckers are waiting around at transfer stations and hoping their money lasts longer than the shutdown at the nation's West Coast ports.

"I'm going to have to start figuring out ways to make some money soon," said Jorge Ramirez, 41, a short-haul trucker with a wife and four young children. "It's better to be your own boss, but right now there is no dinero. My wife is worried, I'm worried."

Some of the lockout's swiftest, sharpest economic blows have fallen on the thousands of independent truckers who usually spend 10 or more hours a day shuttling cargo between the ports and transfer stations. But the longshoremen are unable to load or unload any cargo.

In Southern California alone, more than 12,000 rigs operated by those short-haul drivers and small companies were parked at cargo transfer stations throughout the region Wednesday. Fearful of run-ins with picketing longshoremen, the truckers avoided the docks.

The Pacific Maritime Association, which represents shipping companies and terminal operators, locked out about 10,500 dockworkers at all 29 West Coast ports Sunday, claiming workers had engaged in an illegal slowdown.

Talks scheduled for Wednesday were canceled after a federal mediation session fell apart. Union representatives stormed out, complaining that their employers showed up with armed security guards. After meeting alone with a federal mediator Wednesday, the union said it was willing to return, and a new round of talks was scheduled for today.

A wide range of industries are beginning to feel squeezed by the shutdown of the ports, which handled more than $320 billion worth of imports and exports in 2001. Among them were automakers, which rely almost exclusively on container ships to transport large parts.

Officials at the New United Motor Manufacturing plant near San Jose, which assembles Toyota Tacoma trucks and Pontiac Vibe cars, said it had exhausted its inventory of parts and would probably lay off its 5,100 workers.

"If we don't get the spigot turned back on right away, we will shut down our trade side Wednesday and the passenger side sometime Thursday morning," said spokesman Michael Damer.

President Bush came under mounting pressure to intervene.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said Bush should order the ports reopened and impose an 80-day cooling off period. And the West Coast Waterfront Coalition, which represents retailers and transportation companies, urged Bush to take whatever steps are necessary to reopen the ports.