Truckers endure shorter hours at New Orleans container terminal

ANGRY New Orleans truckers are protesting the five hours slashed from pick up and delivery times from the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal alternately run by Ports America and New Orleans Terminal LLC.

Ports American has cut five hours off of its 7am to 5pm schedule on Tuesdays and Fridays, closing at noon on one day, reports the New Orleans Times-Picayune. The other company has cut two hours from its daily schedule, opening at 0800 hrs instead of 0700 hrs and closing for lunch between noon and 1300 hrs.

"I'm just waiting," said one trucker. "Normally, we'd be back on the road with our second load by now."

Said another: "It's hustle with us. You don't come in knowing what you're going to make. It's different every day. You have to pretty much take care of everything out of pocket."

Said Ports America vice president Terry White: "Everyone right now is looking for ways to eliminate cost in their businesses, and this is one way to do that."

(Source: www.schednet.com)