Drop trailer fee hike to boost transport costs: truckers

NORTH SYDNEY, N.S — Marine Atlantic’s doubling of its drop trailer fee will inevitably lead to higher transportation costs and more expensive prices for groceries and essential goods in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, says the head of the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association.

Newly elected APTA chair Shane Esson, of Moncton-based Keltic Transport, told The Gulf News that although an increase was expected, the ferry service’s $210 drop trailer management fee puts unreasonable pressure on truckers in these tough economic times, and they will have no choice but to pass the cost on to shippers.

The fee effectively replaces a $101.75 "jockey" charge to have drop trailers put on and taken off of the ferry by Marine Atlantic staff.

The Nova-Scotia-Newfoundland marine link also instituted a drop trailer storage fee of $75 for up to 48 hours and another $100 for every 24 hours after that.

Esson says the ferry service didn’t give industry enough notice of the increase, which took effect on Nov. 26. He said that APTA requested the new fee be delayed until the New Year and the amount negotiated, but to no avail.

According to company President and CEO Wayne Follett, the drop trailer business has increased more the 25 percent over the last five years and Marine Atlantic needs the extra fee to replace equipment, such as shunt trucks, as well as to cover administrative costs like security which were supposedly not include din the previous jockey fee.

AS for the storage fee, Follett told the newspaper that trailers are being left at Marine Atlantic terminals — mostly on the North Sydney side — for longer periods of time creating congestion issues.

The hike in drop trailer fees are in addition to the latest fuel surcharge increases in October.

It appears as though the ferry service can use all the extra funds it can get. A recent report released by Federal Auditor Sheila Fraser in November warned that Marine Atlantic is unsustainable in its current state.

The Crown Corporation has been plagued with service interruptions and mechanical breakdowns for years.