Waterfronts Weathering Economic Tide

By Peter Hull

Truck driver Bill Campbell hauled his first container out of the Port of Charleston in 1984.

Last spring, the trucking firm he worked for was sold, and the new owners decided to hire only owner-operators. The move meant Campbell would have to buy his own rig, a responsibility he neither wanted, nor could afford.

In these tight economic times, the firm’s new owners needed to cut corners. By shifting the bulk of their expenses to the drivers, the company could sharply lower its overhead.

The veteran driver was left with no option but to get out of the trucking business. Campbell, who is currently looking for work, says it’s a shame that in this proud port city, the economic downturn is drying up jobs along the waterfront.

“A lot of them ain’t surviving,” Campbell says. “If they’re not surviving by running their trucks, they may as well park them.”

Tide Turned Against Ports

Experiences like Campbell’s are not limited to Charleston, as the economic tide has turned against almost every north american port.

According to the October edition of Port Tracker, a monthly report by the National Retail Federation and market analyst, Global Insight, container traffic at the nation’s major cargo ports is projected to decrease 6.5 percent in 2008 compared with 2007’s volume.

Jonathan Gold, an NRF vice president, said the unstable economic climate has left retailers edgy, with most being careful to import only the merchandise they think they can sell.

The slump, coupled with escalating running costs, has led many steamship lines to leave dozens of containerships anchored at port.

Businessman Robert New, who runs a firm that supplies key waterfront labor, says there’s no question that Charleston’s docks have been hit hard, and he, like most port-related businesses, is nervously monitoring the slowdown in global world shipping.

Substantial Peaks and Valleys

Small wonder, given that more than one in every 10 workers in South Carolina earns a living from the state’s public and private ports, according to a report by consulting firm Wilbur Smith Associates and released by the S.C. State Ports Authority in October.
The study found the SPA and other private port facilities create nearly $45 billion in economic output annually, including more than $12 billion in labor income.

“This is not a business where there are small peaks and valleys,” New says. “The peaks and valleys in our business, unfortunately, are very, very large.”

And even State Ports Authority officials readily acknowledge that it’s a very slow period for container shipping.

Spokesman Byron Miller says that for the three-month period of July, August, and September, the Port of Charleston’s export volume rose 9 percent, but the slumping economy hit imports hard, which fell by 9 percent.

As a counter-weight, port officials have turned their attention to sectors that are doing well, Miller says, such as break-bulk cargo exports.

“There are some opportunities for growth,” Miller says.

But it’s the sharp end of day-to-day operations that often are hardest hit.

Longshoremen Moonlighting

Ken Riley, president of the International Longshoreman’s Association Local 1422 in Charleston, says that a growing number of his 853 members are taking second jobs to supplement their incomes as regular work at the waterfront dries up.
The workers’ economic position, one Riley fully appreciates, leaves the union with problems of its own. Specifically, labor isn’t as accessible as it used to be. When the docks are busy, typically on a Thursday or Friday, there may not be enough hands to work the ships, Riley says.

“They’re not always available when we need them — you can’t be in two places at once,” he says. “Some of them can’t afford to hang around for two days a week when you’ve got a family and responsibilities.”

Fewer hands mean turnaround times are longer and sailing times can get pushed back. It’s hard to maintain a level of excellence when the docks are short-handed, Riley says.
The reality is that if the waterfront maintains a certain amount of work, the labor won’t need to look elsewhere. Riley knows other ports are facing similar challenges, and besides, this isn’t the first time.

“We’ve been there before and we bounced back,” he says. “We’ve just got to weather the storm.”