Truckers sing Marine Atlantic blues to MP

ST. JOHN’S – Can an Alberta MP immediately fix Atlantic Canada’s most pressing transportation problem?

After their first meeting with Canada’s minister of state for transport, Rob Merrifield, a group of truckers and owner-ops aren’t feeling so confident, according to CBC.

Small Atlantic carriers and owner-ops have been burned plenty of times this summer by Marine Atlantic and they met with Merrifield at the Crown Corporation’s St. John’s head office Tuesday to float their grievances with the ferry service.

Merrifield admitted that Marine Atlantic has had a rough summer with boarding problems and maintenance issues, but said he couldn’t ask the ferry to scrap the controversial reservation system that’s at the heart of the conflict.

Smaller truckers say the system is weighted for big fleets, who block book reservations. Sometimes they cancel spots at the last minute and the ferry often sails off with vacant spaces, leaving smaller truckers behind on the dock.

Many of these smaller outfits are, by the nature of their flexibility, hired by shippers on little notice to haul mostly perishables. And often, they can’t book reservations too far in advance.

After the two-hour meeting, the truckers weren’t satisfied with the outcome, reports CBC.

"The minister is a little snowblind on this issue," said Chris Howlett. "Hopefully we’ll manage to educate him a little more on how Marine Atlantic is operating."

Compounding Marine Atlantic’s recent problems, a stress fracture on a ramp at the Port aux Basques terminal slowed down the ferry service on the weekend.

Things are expected to return to normal today.