Owner of trucking business scrambling for options as port strike imminent in Houston

HOUSTON – With 45,000 dock workers across the country poised to walk off the job by the end of Monday, one owner of a trucking business in Houston is scrambling to find options to keep his job going.

Paul Woodfork, owner of Swift Eagle Trucklines, said the news the workers, represented by the International Longshoremen’s Association, are set to strike, surprised him.

“I wasn’t, you know, updated to the union strike until much recent to where that’s, now we’re on the phone almost every day trying to follow the freight and trying to see what’s going on. How long is this stuff going to go,” he said.

The Greater Houston Trucking Association told KPRC 2 many local trucking companies rely on business from the port to stay busy.

Woodfork said the strike could bring his business to a halt.

“Almost felt like the hurricane all over again. No work,” he said. “That’s like having a guaranteed job stop on you and then you have to figure it all out with what you have is mind boggling.”

He says he is still trying to figure out options for what to do during the strike. He says business from the port is what kept his business going.

“That’s one of the main avenues where we can guarantee work from every month and at least three to five days, which is great,” he said. “There’s so much stuff going on down here because they have a wide range of freight to where you can always work.”

He says his small business is normally hauling aluminum and solar panels from the port. Now, with the looming strike, he is trying to figure out how to keep his business going.

“You still have a family to feed and insurance to pay, gas, bills to pay and everything, you know, and employees to pay for as well,” he said.