The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Teamsters have opposed Offpeak. This past summer the Teamsters organized a public protest against the plan, calling it “yet another attack on the independent owner-operators.”

For drivers the program means longer hours and being forced to work at night. “The problem is the waiting,” said Carlos Mazo, a driver from Long Beach. “At one of the terminals there is only one crane operator at night. During the day they usually have five.”

After putting in 14 hours, port driver Jose Zepeda stopped to talk to Militant reporters outside a fueling station here. “The other night I waited an hour and a half to pick up my load. I was so frustrated I called the dispatch and told him to forget it. The night work sucks.” Zepeda has been a port driver for two years.

“Sometimes I have to wait two or three hours,” he added. The Offpeak program has made things worse for port drivers. Most work between 60 and 70 hours a week, Zepeda said.

“If I can’t find work during the day, I will wind up working 12-16 hours because I have to keep working into the night,” Alfonso Gonzalez told the Los Angeles Times. These conditions make it more common for drivers to sleep in their trucks and not go home at night.

“We’re paid only $55-$60 per load and lucky if we get three loads a day,” said Santiago Negrete, a driver from Anaheim. “Diesel prices are killing us, plus we have to pay for repairs, insurance, highway taxes and permits, tires, and other truck maintenance.”

Even though diesel prices have fallen recently, they are still higher than the prices that sparked mass protests in 2004 by drivers at the Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Oakland ports. Zepeda said a lot of drivers don’t get paid enough to maintain their trucks, many of which are old and in disrepair. Making matters worse, the California Highway Patrol sets up checkpoints in the port, pulling over and harassing drivers. “Two tickets and you lose your license,” said Zepeda.

At least 10,000 port drivers haul cargo to transportation centers near the port. The largely nonunion and immigrant workforce is made up of drivers from Mexico and Central American countries. Although attempts to unionize the drivers in the past have failed, sentiment for organizing and collective action is not far below the surface. “We need to organize,” Negrete said. “If we don’t, nothing will change.”
 
 
Related article:
Independent truckers in Houston win strike  
 
 
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