Truck Drivers Call for an End to Congestion at Port of Virginia
Truck drivers called for an end to congestion at the Port of Virginia during a meeting attended by a port executive, the Virginian-Pilot reported.
About 50 drivers gathered at a Golden Corral on Feb. 22 in Norfolk and called for what many saw as intolerable delays at the terminals at a meeting attended by the director of terminal services for Virginia International Terminals, which runs the ports facilities.
“We’re here because we’re absolutely fed up with the issues that are crippling the industry that we once enjoyed — trucking. . . . To be quite frank, if we cannot band together as brothers and sisters, our livelihoods are at stake. Drivers, it’s time to take action, and the time is now,” said George Berry, a local owner-operator who organized and moderated the event, the Norfolk newspaper reported.
The meeting came several days after the Port of Virginia announced the formation of a motor carrier task force. The group’s objective is to suggest solutions to delays at the port’s state-controlled marine terminals.
The task force will focus on safety, reducing turn times, cutting wait time at the gates and chassis availability, port CEO John Reinhart said in a statement.
The truckers’ next meeting is scheduled for March 29.
“We will continue this till we feel like our expectations are met, so we can avoid the possibility of the ultimatum, which is a shutdown, or you can put ‘taking a few days off' in parentheses,” Berry told the newspaper.
