ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø

June 27, 2005 9:15 AM, EDT

Click here to write a Letter to the Editor.

he Port of Vancouver, British Columbia, could lose up to 40% of its capacity to move containers because of a strike by truckers seeking higher pay to cover fuel costs, Bloomberg reported Monday.

Citing a Canadian Broadcasting Corp. report, Bloomberg said an independent mediator was scheduled to be brought in within two weeks to try to settle the dispute.

About 40% of the port's shipments are moved by truck, Bloomberg reported.

Last year the port, the busiest on Canada’s West Coast, handled about 1.66 million 20-foot equivalent units, or TEUs, according to the port’s Web site.

Members of the Vancouver Container Truck Association are seeking to be paid about $405 a day, up from the current $285 to $325, Bloomberg said.