Drop Trailer Stays: Feds agree to preserve Marine Atlantic service

OTTAWA -Transport Canada has announced that it will maintain Marine Atlantic’s drop trailer service under certain conditions.

The ministry was seriously considering scrapping the service after its own advisory committee responsible for reviewing the ferry’s business model recommended earlier this year that the government abandon drop service and focus on live load operations.

Transport Canada then commissioned a follow-up study, which analyzed the impact of eliminating drop-trailer. It will be available to the public shortly.

DROPPING IN: If Marine Atlantic is on its best behavior,
it can keep drop trailer ops, Feds say

While many regional owner-ops who rely on live load operations applauded the advisory committee proposal in May, it was bitterly opposed by the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association. Over the last six months, the carrier group was joined by several unions and area politicians in fighting to preserve the service.

In June, an APTA-commissioned report argued that the drop service makes up half of Marine Atlantic business and eliminating it would have a significant impact on the ability of carriers to serve Newfoundland the way locals have become accustomed to.

The federal government, which is subsidizes Marine Atlantic to the tune of $41 million a year — now seems to agree.

In a statement released yesterday, Transport Canada announced it would maintain the service provided “that the level of cost recovery for the service is acceptable; the service is handled more efficiently by Marine Atlantic; and the trucking industry improves efforts to work with Marine Atlantic on initiatives to better manage traffic demand.”

“We’re definitely pleased with the news. This is a service we’ve come to reply upon here,” Vaughn Sturgeon, chairman of the APTA and president of Warren Transport told TodaysTrucking.com. “It would have been a definite hardship for a lot of people involved had it gone away.”

Sturgeon says that most critics didn’t necessarily want to see drop service cancelled as much as they wanted live-load operations to improve. He believes that if the conditions are met by the ferry, a better service balance would be created for all types of users.

That’s easier said than done, says Jon Summers, president of the Newfoundland & Labrador Independent Truckers Association, considering that’s what his members have been asking for years to no avail. He applauded the announcement in May to scrap the service because many of his members– who are mostly roll-on owner-operators hauling perishable goods — complained for years they were getting bumped off the ferry because the company gave priority to drop trailers, he says.

“I’m amazed (at the announcement), actually. A lot of people put a lot of hard work in this,” he says in an interview. “Right up until this announcement was made, we figured the drop trailer service would be discontinued or operated as a separate entity, but after years of hard work, nothing changes. We’re still going to be stuck with the same inefficient ferry service we started off with.”

Asked if he thinks the ferry will be more efficient while still maintaining drop service at current levels, Summers responded rhetorically: “How are they going to do that? Nobody’s given me or anybody else any indication …

“As far as I’m concerned, Marine Atlantic is catering to the half-a-dozen large transport companies that use the drop trailer service. It’s not working for the live load independents that use that boat everyday. They don’t have an option. If they don’t get on the ferry on Friday night, (Marine Atlantic) knows they’ll be there Saturday morning because they don’t have any other way to get across he gulf.”

In addition to the main announcement, the government says it will support Marine Atlantic’s proposal to construct a second dock in Port aux Basques, Newfoundland and Labrador. The company hopes this second dock will improve turn around time and promote a more efficient and reliable operation of the ferry service.

Transport Canada says it will continue to work with the ferry to develop a long-term strategy that will consider important elements such as rates structure, governance and fleet requirements.

Beyond its recommendation drop services be scrapped, the advisory committee also wanted Marine Atlantic to reinvest in its fleet by phasing in three larger vessels between 2006 and 2011, and urged the ferry scale back rates by 15 percent.