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American Morning
Trucking Industry Affected Greatly by Strike
Aired October 08, 2002 - 09:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: As early as today the Bush administration is expected to ask a federal court to end the lockout at all 28 West Coast ports. The labor dispute is costing the nation's economy an estimated $2 billion a day, and its impact is rippling across the country.
Our own Lisa Leiter joins us now, live from Chicago with the story of one trucking company that's feeling a big pinch from the standoff -- good morning, Lisa.
LISA LEITER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula. Well, you're absolutely right. Perhaps no industry is being affected more than the trucking industry. After all, just about every American business is served by a truck, and the loading docks here at Central States Trucking in suburban Chicago are normally a lot busier.
They do the bulk of their business by unloading railroad container shipments that had arrived through the West Coast ports, and I am standing here now with Patrick Leonardi from Central States -- Patrick, how bad are things today?
PATRICK LEONARDI, CENTRAL STATES TRUCKING: Well, normally we handle about 200 container shipments a day. We're down to nine for today. So it is a dramatic decrease.
LEITER: And how bad will things be if this should continue for another few days?
LEONARDI: We will probably see about a 60 percent drop in revenue on container-type business, and, of course, that may mean a lot of drivers may be sitting at home.
LEITER: And what are you telling these drivers who may be out of work at what is probably their busiest time of the year, right, getting ready for the holiday shopping season?
LEONARDI: Well, it is a tough question that you ask there, but we're trying to find other work for them, and we have seen a large increase in our airfreight business, where the shippers have been changing their modes of transportation to avert the disaster of this impending strike.
LEITER: Patrick, thanks very much.
Paula, Patrick isn't the only one suffering. We have been talking to other companies in the area who say their business is down between 70 and 80 percent -- back to you. ZAHN: Which explains, I guess, the $2 billion a day in losses we're talking about here. Lisa, thanks. Appreciate the update.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 8, 2002 - 09:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: As early as today the Bush administration is expected to ask a federal court to end the lockout at all 28 West Coast ports. The labor dispute is costing the nation's economy an estimated $2 billion a day, and its impact is rippling across the country.
Our own Lisa Leiter joins us now, live from Chicago with the story of one trucking company that's feeling a big pinch from the standoff -- good morning, Lisa.
LISA LEITER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula. Well, you're absolutely right. Perhaps no industry is being affected more than the trucking industry. After all, just about every American business is served by a truck, and the loading docks here at Central States Trucking in suburban Chicago are normally a lot busier.
They do the bulk of their business by unloading railroad container shipments that had arrived through the West Coast ports, and I am standing here now with Patrick Leonardi from Central States -- Patrick, how bad are things today?
PATRICK LEONARDI, CENTRAL STATES TRUCKING: Well, normally we handle about 200 container shipments a day. We're down to nine for today. So it is a dramatic decrease.
LEITER: And how bad will things be if this should continue for another few days?
LEONARDI: We will probably see about a 60 percent drop in revenue on container-type business, and, of course, that may mean a lot of drivers may be sitting at home.
LEITER: And what are you telling these drivers who may be out of work at what is probably their busiest time of the year, right, getting ready for the holiday shopping season?
LEONARDI: Well, it is a tough question that you ask there, but we're trying to find other work for them, and we have seen a large increase in our airfreight business, where the shippers have been changing their modes of transportation to avert the disaster of this impending strike.
LEITER: Patrick, thanks very much.
Paula, Patrick isn't the only one suffering. We have been talking to other companies in the area who say their business is down between 70 and 80 percent -- back to you. ZAHN: Which explains, I guess, the $2 billion a day in losses we're talking about here. Lisa, thanks. Appreciate the update.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
