Several trailer drivers are now on strike at the Kingston Freeport Terminal (KFT) over what they say are poor working conditions at the port, including long wait times for loading cargo.

The drivers have threatened to stay off the job until their concerns are addressed by the management of KFT.

“So when I go in the IZ [international zone], you stay like four or five hours before you get the box, and when I go on the scanner, it’s the same procedure. They stay there for the whole day. And that’s why we are striking; we want a better solution. How they can amend it so that we can go in and [finish] in about 15 minutes or 20 minutes,” said Erick Nelson, a trailer driver employed at the Kingston Freeport Terminal.

Nelson told the Jamaica Observer that the delay is creating havoc in the wharf for drivers.

“Well, to me, I believe that management doesn’t care. Because when the wharf is jammed up, I tell you, it’s causing havoc in the wharf. Sometimes accidents occur in the wharf. It’s a chaos; trust me, it’s really a chaos. I believe what they need to do is set it up better for the truck drivers. Because if the order is going like two days or three days before, they need to get the box, put the box here, so when we come in the morning and go on the IZ, they just drive and pick up the box and put it on our truck and then we can move on. Because we are working, we don’t work and come here to spend three, four, five hours in the wharf. That’s total foolishness,” he said.

The drivers also expressed concerns over alleged poor communication from the Jamaica Customs Agency (JCA) representatives and chaos at the vetting window where they have to enter information for their containers and process their papers in order to exit the queue.

A meeting was scheduled for 12 pm Wednesday with members of the Port Trailers Haulage Association Limited, which represents the drivers, Kingston Freeport Terminal and the Port Authority of Jamaica.

“What we have done, we have spoken to the Port Authority. They are convening a meeting shortly. So we can go in, try and get something to come back out, to convince the membership that they can go back and resume the operation. So, this meeting will open in the next two or three hours. We might have a result,” said Andrew Henry, president of the Port Trailers Haulage Association Limited.

Andrew Henry, president of the Port Trailers Haulage Association Limited (Llewellyn Wynter Photo)

Henry said the association has been lobbying all the stakeholders for better working conditions for the drivers at the port; however, the drivers are restive because they feel their needs are not being met.

He said he is hoping the association can reach an agreement with KFT regarding the concerns raised by the drivers.

“The executive of the Port Trailers Haulage Association did not call this withdrawal of service. We have been lobbying all the stakeholders, the Port Authority, the Jamaica Customs Agency, and the port companies like Kingston Freeport Terminal and Kingston Wharf Limited, for better conditions at the port. As it is now, the average turn time can be about two and a half hours to do one move. A move is going into the port to load a container to come out. That long turn time is causing the owners to lose profits because we need to be doing, per driver, 10 containers. We are doing only three. Drivers get paid per trip. So if you’re doing only three at the fortnight, you can’t feed the family. So we’re losing drivers. They’re going overseas. They’re going to other sectors. We can’t find drivers,” he said.

“We have met with them over the last six months, and we have provided data studies. We have provided solutions about scanning and overnight scanning. Where they can shift around operations that will cause the dwell time to go to under an hour. Although they might agree that the idea is good, they are saying it might take a year. So, as I said before, we didn’t call it, but then the frustration of the membership – they took it to their owners to say that they’re not moving until they get something tangible. Not a promise, but something tangible that they can hold on to,” he continued.

It is not yet clear what impact the strike would have on Wednesday’s operation at the port. Efforts by the Jamaica Observer to get a comment from KFT proved unsuccessful.

Parked trailers at at the Kingston Freeport Terminal (KFT) (Llewellyn Wynter Photo)