Firm drivers, not directly employed operators, and unbiased operators serving the Port of Vancouver will see charges improve 6.2% on July 1, within the wake of an unbiased compensation examine carried out for the Workplace of the British Columbia Container Trucking Commissioner.
A overview revealed in February included 5 proposals to replace charges for drivers serving the Decrease Mainland’s drayage sector, and the choice was made to handle inflationary pressures.
They aren’t the one modifications on the horizon.
Additional time charges have been introduced in April, and as of Could 1 firm drivers have been entitled to 1.5 instances their relevant hourly charges past 9 hours in a day and over 45 hours every week.
Now the commissioner’s workplace is engaged on additional time charges for unbiased operators. A ultimate resolution will come after business suggestions on the proposal is reviewed.
Additional time charges
Total, the motive behind the introduction of additional time charges is easy.
“They [drivers] have been all the time entitled to additional time,” commissioner Glen MacInnes stated, noting that it was addressed by the B.C. Employment Requirements department. “Since I’m doing the audit anyhow, I can see folks aren’t complying. I can see drivers aren’t getting paid. And I can see licensees are getting very annoyed as a result of they pay additional time, and a few others don’t … thus, giving them a aggressive benefit.
“When our auditors now discover instances of unpaid additional time, the employers can now be ordered to compensate the drivers beneath the Container Trucking Act, which ensures that each licensed firm within the drayage sector now pays additional time.”
Making certain drivers are getting the cash to which they’re entitled will be particularly vital in opposition to the backdrop of softening container visitors because the Port of Vancouver comes off its pandemic-related peak.
How truck tags are allotted
The workplace of the container commissioner has been working labor unions and business associations to match drivers with out there work and overview the best way truck tags are allotted, MacInnes stated.
Truck tags grant permission to haul containers. Fleets that must renew a licence should submit a enterprise case detailing what number of tags they are going to want, and what number of of these can be designated for firm and unbiased operators. Knowledge from buyer lists to earlier efficiency and truck availability are thought of.
Whereas licensees select the way to allocate the out there work, the workplace’s purpose is “to make sure we do not need too many drivers chasing too few containers,” MacInnes stated.
Presently, 1,600 tags are distributed to 76 licensees, and almost half are designated for unbiased operators, he added.
Dividing the work
However that doesn’t forestall any potential imbalance in work divided between unbiased and firm drivers.
“We’re not right here to intrude [with] the way you arrange your office. If you wish to rent unbiased operators, that’s your alternative. If you wish to rent firm drivers, that’s your alternative. What we’re making an attempt to do is to say, ‘There’s no aggressive benefit going by hook or by crook’. We tried to stability that out.”
In line with the newest month-to-month replace, revealed in April, there are at present 25 vacant tags, 20 of which can be found for unbiased operators. Such updates revealed by the commissioner’s offie let the carriers find out about out there tags, permitting them to use for the licence inside 90 days.
Right now, 769 unbiased operator tags are actually actively used.
