Battle to preserve Marine Atlantic drop cargo continues

SYDNEY, N.S. — Representatives from the Cape Breton Regional Municipality were joined by the Canadian Auto Workers’ Union in a bid to try and save Marine Atlantic’s drop-on trailer service.

The delegation is asking the standing committee on economic development in Halifax for provincial support to keep the Port Aux Basques-North Sydney service afloat, according to the Cape Breton Post.

Should It Stay or Should it Go? The debate whether
to keep drop-on service still alive

Transport Canada will soon decide whether to scrap the drop-trailer service — said to be about one-fifth of Marine Atlantic’s annual business.

Earlier this year, a Transport Canada advisory committee responsible for reviewing the ferry’s business model, financial needs, and quality of service, recommended that, at a cost of $20 million a year to operate, the ferry’s should drop-on service should be eliminated.

The plan is being fought by unions and the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association. However, many of the region’s owner-operators who rely on live loads (roll-on service) support the committee’s suggestion. Jon Summers, president of the Newfoundland & Labrador Independent Truckers Association, says owner-ops for years have been severely delayed, even bumped, at the expense of drop cargo, which takes time to load on and unload from vessels.

— with files from the Cape Breton Post.