New Advance Booking Policy by Marine Atlantic Is Not Independent Trucker Friendly
During this time of the year at Marine Atlantic ferry terminals in North Sydney and Port aux Basques, N.L, the natural decline in tourist traffic gives some relief, to truckers, from the long waits.
"I would say things are better, but I would say that tongue-in-cheek because Im not sure if it is better," said Tony Cole, one of the many regional truckers who united together to express their grievances this summer after the federally owned ferry service introduced a new reservation system.
Cole added, "The decrease in traffic because most of the tourists have gone still hasnt improved our efficiencies and we still have some very big problems with the new system."
Cole and other regional haulers are looking forward to a working group composed of truckers and Marine Atlantic officials who will put their heads together and come up with solutions. The meeting was scheduled to start yesterday in St. John's, NL.
A number of independent truckers believes the new advance booking policy implemented by Marine Atlantic in March is unfair and gives advantage to larger companies only.
The changes to the reservation system was made by the ferry operation after truckers brought their concerns forward and after a group met t with Rob Merrifield, the federal minister of state for transport in August.
"Weve still got a long way to go and, Ill tell you, I dont have much hope," said Cole.
Trucker Chris Howlett, however, who was also at the August meeting, said the changes are "no improvement" for commercial customers like him.
"What they're doing here is just another smoke show," he said. "This has been going on for four or five months. I mean, this is not acceptable."
Truckers put a premium on ferry space since everything from nails to nachos is shipped to Newfoundland via a Marine Atlantic ferry -- and if long waits take place, frustration grows.
"Large trucking companies can buy blocks of space on the ferries and the smaller companies just cant compete with that," Cole said.
Recently, Marine Atlantic made changes to the system which result to more first-come, first-served spaces have been made available and and smaller truckers are not required to pay full price when making reservation.
Independent truckers complained larger companies have been making block-bookings, shutting out smaller operators. Many a time, they said, the reservations have been held until the last minute, meaning that ferries have been sailing with vacant positions.
"In the real world, we offer rebates and incentives when we cant accommodate, but Marine Atlantic is not operating in the real world and some of these problems are crushing small businesses," according to Cole.
Marine Atlantic, on the other hand, said a huge part of the problem is capacity. It is anticipated that the two new vessels that will be added into the fleet next year will somehow solve this problem.
Vice-president of customer experience with Marine Atlantic, Don Barnes, is adamant that the new vessels will help.
Nonetheless, there are still areas for improvement, he said.
"There are lots of challenges, and some of them have been met already, but there will always be challenges, no matter what," said Barnes, who will be part of the working group.
"We will sit down and see if we can find a way forward."
Marine Atlantic's current reservation system replaced a first-come, first-served system it had used for years. Its aim is to let trucking companies book ahead so that Marine Atlantic's terminal's parking lots would not be congested by their rigs.
