[May 08, 2008]
Truckers’ protest affects Union Pacific
(Omaha World-Herald (NE) (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) May 8–Some customers of Union Pacific Railroad have not been able to ship goods for two days to Oakland, Calif., because independent truckers protesting rates they are paid in the face of record fuel prices have slowed work at the major seaport.
The truckers are not Union Pacific employees or contractors, limiting the Omaha-based railroad’s influence in the situation. Motor carrier firms acting as brokers often pay the truckers.
Bob Morgan, a manager for short line Iowa Interstate Railroad in Council Bluffs, said about 30 containers bound for Oakland that Iowa Interstate normally would load onto Union Pacific cars were not shipped Tuesday. Those containers, which hold a variety of goods that could include tractor parts, soybeans and other agricultural products, remained in Council Bluffs, Morgan said.
Customers did not try to deliver goods to the Council Bluffs yard Wednesday because they knew Union Pacific had stopped shipping items there to Oakland. About 30 to 40 containers are shipped out each day, Morgan said.
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West Coast ports have seen other protests over the past week, including thousands of dock workers taking the day off May 1 in what the Longshore and Warehouse Union called a protest of the war in Iraq. The union also is in contract negotiations with the Pacific Maritime Association, a group that includes cargo carriers and terminal operators.
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