Truckers? work action fades

TruckersÆ work action fades    A port trucker work action by independent trucking operators, which was intended to affect all U.S. ports, ebbed quickly after some success earlier this week.
   Terminals in Newark, N.J., that experienced a 70-percent drop in truck-borne cargo business Monday expected to see a return to normal activity by Thursday.
   A spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey told Shippers' News Wire that cargo had begun moving Tuesday 'at close to normal volumes' through the affected terminals.
   Elsewhere, the ports of Charleston, Miami and New Orleans experienced a mild downturn in truck activity Monday, but resumed normal operations Tuesday. In Savannah, a minor protest occurred that had no effect on the port's operations. West Coast ports did not see any trucker protests.
   Independent truck operators had threatened a national strike in their anger over the reluctance of some ocean carriers to pay fuel price surcharges. In some ports, unionized truckers allowed independent operators to hold meetings in union halls, sources said.