Truckers Protest AB5 Halts Cargo Flow at Oakland Port

Oakland International Container Terminal management shut down its operations at the Port of Oakland on Wednesday, and the port came to a near standstill except for OICT, where other marine terminals have closed truck access. Freight operators in Oakland, California, are bracing for a week-long strike protest by truckers. This week, truckers blocked operations at the third busiest container port in the U.S. West, adding new disruptions to an already strained U.S. supply chain. And congestion in the U.S. East and disruptions to inland transportation in the U.S. and China continue ......


Truckers on strike at Port of Oakland say ready to remain in lockdown for months if concerns over AB5 are not addressed

Truckers have blocked vehicles from entering the container terminal at the Port of Oakland in what is reported to be the largest trucker protest to date. In fact, as the strike enters its second day, the OICT gates have been closed all day as convoys line up outside the TRAPAC terminal, and the Port of Oakland's three marine terminals have closed truck access, which effectively stops almost all business (except for a small amount) in protest of California's AB5 bill.

The law would impose stricter restrictions on drivers classified as employees (rather than independent contractors), and an estimated 70,000 truckers would be subject to the bill who do not want to be employees or part of a union. That's because it would mean truckers would lose their freedom to operate independently, making it harder for them to make a living.

The Oakland protests, which were intended to last a few days, began on Monday, but the protests have grown larger and more disruptive with each passing day. Port officials had said Tuesday that they expected the protests to end Wednesday, and executives at area freight companies said protesters appeared ready to extend the protests and the strike would last a week. Gary Shergill, one of the protest organizers, told the Wall Street Journal that "the strike protests could go on for weeks or months."

Trucks lined up outside the port of Oakland after it was closed due to protests and strikes. 

Truckers gather at Port of Oakland and block multiple terminal gates

Oakland port truckers have effectively shut down cargo operations at the port, and there is no immediate word on when the protests will end, but are exacerbating supply chain problems that have led to clogged cargo ships at the port and piles of cargo on the docks, as well as soaring inflation. The protests come at the height of the import season for toy makers and other industries, as retailers stock up on goods for the fall holidays and back-to-school.

The Port of Oakland is a major U.S. import gateway and agricultural export center, with more than 2,100 trucks passing through the docks each day, importing a wide range of goods in categories ranging from wine and meat from Australia to furniture, clothing and electronics from China, Japan and Korea.

Prior to the epidemic, the port did not see congestion and ships rarely had to wait for berths in the port. And with the surge in container throughput at the port during the outbreak, the strike has exacerbated congestion at the port, with port officials saying that 15 container ships have been waiting to berth.

The LA/LB terminal in the U.S. West is also having a tough time, with the biggest problem now being rail wait times of about 11 days, and congestion at the railroad causing the port's import container shipments to become even slower. In early July, the Port of Long Beach terminal / Port of Los Angeles respectively, there are about nearly 9,000 / 28,000 containers stranded for more than 9 days, and the rail terminal respectively, there are 11,000 / about 17,000 containers waiting to be loaded. Trucking containers account for nearly 40 percent of all long-term stranded containers at the port, and with the Port of Los Angeles currently at 90 percent of land capacity due to rail container stacking, any delays in truck pickups will only add to traffic congestion.

In addition, the East Coast and Gulf Coast ports are similarly crowded with waiting ships outside. At the beginning of July, there were 20 container ships waiting for berths in the Gulf of Mexico/New York and New Jersey coasts, respectively. And according to June statistics show that the average waiting time before the ship enters the port has been 4.5 days, the New York and New Jersey terminal import container detention time has been delayed to 8-14 days.

It is reported that the Amazon FTW1 warehouse (Texas) in the U.S. Central is still suffering from severe trailer congestion inland, and truckers must currently wait in line for at least 6 hours before being assigned to an empty dock, while unloading PAlletized and Floor loaded containers will take at least 4 hours or more. It is also worth noting that the Amazon LAX9 warehouse in the U.S. West is closed until Friday and delivery timelines will be affected.