The major challenge facing the drayage industry in 2011 is the thinly veiled attempt by the Teamsters union to strong-arm the president and Democratic members in Congress. After large union campaign contributions, one must assume there is an expectation of favorable legislation, in particular a mandate that only company drivers may make container pickups at ports.
Labor successfully achieved this requirement at the Port of Los Angeles through collaboration with the mayor of Los Angeles, himself a former Teamsters organizer, although an appeal by the American Trucking Associations may halt this decision. This is not sitting well with the Teamsters union, which is turning to the administration and Congress to assure there is no chance for appeal.
Through the groups it financially supports, such as the Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports and Coalition for Healthy Ports, the Teamsters has painted a picture of the independent contractor as a destitute individual unable to feed his family, let alone buy a new non-polluting truck.
The union would have you believe every truck moving containers is 20 years old and a major polluter. The fact is, less than 7 percent of port tractors falls into that category, according to the Coalition for Responsible Transportation.
If our elected officials listen to the Teamsters union, we will all lose. We only need to look at its misuse of pension plan monies to realize costs for drayage would skyrocket. Our drayage industry would no longer be competitive, and the cost to move goods would make many costs to import or export commodities prohibitive.