Monday, August 2, 2010

Backlog Cripples Port of Montreal After Lockout

(Canoe.ca – Olivier Bourque)

The lock-out at the Port of Montreal may have ended, but things are still not running without a hitch, something that truckers en route for the port discovered the hard way...

For some, it took two or three hours to enter the port to pickup or unload their cargo. By mid-day, about 50 trucks were lined up to enter the port on Boucherville Road. At the exit, one driver was taking a philosophical approach to the situation.

"I had to wait about four hours," said Dubois. "Normally, it takes me only an hour. The lock-out didn't help, but it's been since the start of the summer that it has been hard like this. What can you do?" [...]

The Port said things should return to normal within a week. In the meantime, truck drivers are being forced to be patient. Lejeune said that suggestions from some truckers to open certain terminals earlier or later in the day is not feasible. The different port terminals have also given a grace period of five days to trucking companies to allow them time to pick up their merchandise. Read more here.