The truckers strike at the Port of Vancouver is over, but the real work is just beginning for small-business operators trying to get their stranded inventory to market and for business leaders who hope to avoid a similar dispute in future.

The job to remove the backlog of containers on the docks in Vancouver, Delta and Surrey will likely take several more weeks after the Vancouver Port Authority - through a federal government order-in-council - implemented a mandatory temporary licensing system for short-haul trucking firms.

"They've made (Vancouver) the laughingstock of the international shipping world," says Jason Puddifoot, owner of Vancouver-based W.H. Puddifoot Ltd.

Puddifoot, who supplies glasses, plates and other supplies to restaurants and hotels, says he has been paying $1,000 per day in storage fees for seven containers that began arriving on the day the strike started. He says dock operators and freight-forwarding companies have no incentive to move containers quickly because they're making huge sums in storage fees.

Bayne Stanley, Business Edge
High storage fees are a chief complaint of small businesspeople, such as A.J. Schenk, whose machine oil was stuck in Montreal.

While some companies have received breaks on storage and demurrage fees, Puddifoot has not. He says he was required to commit to the extra costs, if they became applicable, as part of his shipping contract. If he wants to get a container out early, it will require moving other containers, he adds, so he faces a fee of $95 per container moved.

Puddifoot feels let down by truckers, his customs broker, his freight forwarder, port officials and everybody else involved in the shipping process.

Puddifoot also says he has lost business because some products were intended for special events such as restaurant openings, and he caters to companies that rely on tourism - which is at its peak now.

He says it's unlikely he will ship through Vancouver again. He has begun shipping through Los Angeles, Seattle and Montreal.

"I can get the same rate for shipping through Vancouver from a guy in L.A.," says Puddifoot. "That's quite startling, and they have to truck it all the way up."

He predicts the port will lose several other customers and suggests the effects will be felt for years.

As a federal task force deals with such issues as price undercutting and delays at the port, business operators have a much simpler request: Better communication between the port authority, government, truckers and themselves.

Alfred Schenk, owner of Delta-based Intercon Enterprises Inc., which sells welding equipment to the manufacturing and fabrication industries, says he struggled to find out the fate of his stranded container during the dispute.

"It's definitely something that shouldn't happen in this day and age when communication is so important," says Schenk.

He says Intercon had a container full of machine-oil drums stuck in Montreal, arriving by ship from Germany, because CN Rail issued an embargo on deliveries to Vancouver. Intercon's freight-forwarding company passed on storage fees of $50 per day for the first five days after July 28 and $100 per day thereafter.

"It was completely out of our control," says Schenk.

Intercon sells to wholesalers who cater to manufacturers of products ranging from car parts to oil and gas companies. The machine oil is compatible with specific machinery, so another oil could not be used.

Schenk says his company was fortunate because summer is his slow season.

"If this had happened in September-October, when (manufacturers) are going back to work, I could have lost all my customers," he says.

While the containers were piling up on the Vancouver docks, Intercon's oil drums were going out quickly. The company's warehouse is almost empty and, for the first time in 28 years of operations, the firm almost reached the point where it had no supply, says A.J. Schenk, Alfred's son and the company's vice-president.

"We don't do just-in-time (delivery)," says A.J. Schenk. "We do just-in-time plus a little bit extra."

Several other companies were also hit with demurrage and storage fees, although several shippers have waived fees.

If there is a silver lining to the story, it's that the spotlight has been shone on issues affecting the port and prompted more discussion, says Kevin Evans, western vice-president of the Retail Council of Canada.

"Hopefully we can get it behind us and never see a disruption like it again," he says. During the strike, Evans heard from 15-20 large and small retailers per day who were trying to figure out what was happening with their inventory.

"Our members' confidence in the port, obviously, has been shaken," says Evans.

While it's in everyone's interest to resolve the issues at the port, retailers' ultimate concern is for their customers. If necessary, he says, his members will ship through other ports.

"You've got retailers who were being charged for containers that were sitting there - and that's hardly fair."

Evans says he was surprised that a stakeholders' committee previously established to deal with port problems did not include truckers.

The federal task force is expected to review the strike, which halted the flow of goods through Vancouver-area ports for more than a month, and make lasting recommendations.

"We think that this task force will really provide the opportunity to profile some of those issues and get everyone's attention on the need to get them addressed,'' said Port of Vancouver spokesman Duncan Wilson.

Industry Minister David Emerson added the strike by about 1,000 container drivers marked a "sordid chapter" in the port's history.

"The fundamental objective now is to make sure this kind of dispute does not occur again and that's why we are announcing the appointment of the task force," he said.

The three-person task force must have a preliminary report on the dispute's contentious issues to the minister near the end of September. Its final report must be ready 45 days after that.

The task force members are Eric Harris, a prominent Vancouver labour lawyer; Randy Morris, a former director of ports at Transport Canada; and Ken Dobell, a former deputy minister to B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell.

Emerson admitted the review may not be finished before the end of a 90-day licensing scheme imposed recently by the Vancouver Port Authority.

He doubted the gap would cause further strike action, adding the preliminary report should serve as an act of good faith that a long-term solution will be hammered out.

Under the scheme, companies must sign an agreement to access the containers, essentially agreeing to boost truckers' rates and pay a fuel surcharge.

Emerson also said the task force will likely sit down with trucking companies that haven't signed the licence that they need in order to get access to the ports.

"If they (the companies) want to be in the business, they'll have an interest in their views and concerns being heard and considered," he said.

Laura Jones, vice-president of the B.C. and Yukon region for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), says the temporary licensing system is fine for now, but suggests a permanent solution should be put in place.

She says several small businesses saw orders cancelled because they could not get products to customers in time. CFIB members also faced extra fees through no fault of their own.

"All of the parties involved really need to start communicating better," says Jones. "I don't think there's a quick fix here. There are a number of issues."

Jones is also calling on police to do a better job of protecting workers who want to work during labour disputes.

- With files from The Canadian Press

(Monte Stewart can be reached at monte@businessedge.ca)