- Floods in British Columbia spawned major backlogs at the Port of Vancouver.
- Canada's largest port has been cut off from several major roads and railways due to landslides.
- A trucker group of 120 drivers gave the port 72-hour strike notice on Monday.
Over 50 ships are floating off the coast waiting to dock at the Port of Vancouver.
Canada's largest port has been struggling to process cargo in recent weeks. British Columbia has been ravaged by floods that have cut off the area from several major roads and railways. Some of the major transportation lines have reopened, while others are still recovering from landslides that have washed out entire transportation networks, according to The New York Times.
Rail service for the port's Vancouver-Kamloops line was briefly restored over the weekend, but has since shut down again due to continued torrential rain, according to a report from American Shipper. A spokesperson for the Canadian International Freight Forwards Association told the publication that it's a "crisis situation" as companies rush to move goods out of Vancouver via planes and trucks. As of Sunday, 51 ships were waiting for space to open up at the port.
The port is likely to face even more delays going forward. On Monday, drivers for Aheer Transportation and Prudential Transportation served the Port of Vancouver a 72-hour strike notice. The workers voted to strike the previous week, after the two companies rejected a new agreement.
The truckers are represented by Unifor, the largest private sector union in Canada. Aheer Transportation reached a deal with its drivers on Tuesday, but Prudential Transportation truckers still plan to strike, according to the union. The one carriers makes up about 120 of the 1,700 truckers who move goods from the port.
The truckers are seeking more detention pay for long wait times at ports, as well as for health and dental benefits through the carriers.
"The Unifor pattern agreement in Vancouver's container truck sector is fair and provides drivers with reasonable wages and benefits," said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President, said in a press release. "There is simply no reason every trucking company at the port should not have signed it already."
The crucial role of truckers in the global supply-chain has come to public attention in recent months, as labor shortages threaten to worsen the supply-chain crisis ahead of the holiday shopping season.
Spokespeople for Unifor, Aheer Transportation, and Prudential Transportation did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.
Over the past year, the port has faced a record amount of goods due to a boom in consumer demand. It's also the second time in less than five months that the port has been impacted by extreme weather conditions. During the summer, wildfires and a record heat wave caused backlogs of dozens of ships.