West Coast Ports Still Closed for Business

CTA Says Some Truckers Could Face Bankruptcy

West Coast Port Shutdown

West Coast Ports Still Closed for Business
(Oct. 1)

West Coast Ports Lock Out Workers
(Sept. 30)

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A lockout by the Pacific Maritime Association continued into Tuesday morning as the sides could not come to an agreement in sporadic talks Monday, Bloomberg reported.

With each passing day, the effect of the shutdown of the 29 ports on the West Coast that the PMA operates will intensify and worsen. A study commissioned by carriers that operate in the ports said that a 10-day closure would suck as much as $19.4 million out of the U.S. economy, Bloomberg reported.

Some trucking companies in California may face bankruptcy if the PMA maintains its lockout of workers from the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, a spokeswoman for the California Trucking Association told Dow Jones Newswires Monday.

Stephanie Williams, CTA’s vice president of legislative affairs, said that about 600 trucking companies in Southern California have told between 10,500 and 12,000 workers to stay home because with the ports closed they cannot pick up or deliver any cargo.

Cable business news channel CNBC reported Tuesday morning that representatives of the PMA have agreed to meet with a federal mediator in Washington, but the leaders of the ILWU had not yet agreed to mediation.

The union was expected to come to the table at some point during the day, CNBC said.

The shutdown could also hurt stores like Target Corp. and Wal-Mart Inc., both of which were just beginning to bring in goods for the holiday season, Bloomberg said. Those goods, like many other shipments, are now in limbo as shipments from Asia have stalled because of the lockout.

Inland transportation networks, including trucks and railroads, have ground to a halt as export goods headed for the West Coast now have nowhere to go and import shipments coming off ships have stopped, Bloomberg said.

Railroads Union Pacific Corp. and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. have halted trains in response to the lockout.

The ports handle more than $300 billion in commerce each year, and if the port closure continues, some analysts think the economic impact could push the United States back into recession, Bloomberg said.

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