Local News in Brief : Truckers Return to Ports

Independent truck drivers Thursday spent their first full day back at work hauling shipping containers in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach after their union stopped picketing shipping terminals.

Jerry Bakke, president of the Waterfront/Rail Truckers Union, said a 15-day-old strike was suspended Wednesday night to encourage talks with trucking companies. The union is hoping that trucking companies will join them in negotiations with shipping terminals on such issues as long waits for loads, overweight loads and driver pay.

George Riley, a union director, said the strike succeeded in jamming terminals with containers and forced the diversion of a few container ships to other West Coast ports. But Robert Kleist, chairman of the Los Angeles Steamship Assn., said that the strike had a “temporary impact” and that he was unaware of the diversion of any ships.