CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCIV) — South Carolina ports never opened on Monday.
After issuing a warning Sunday night and a series of delays Monday afternoon, South Carolina Ports Authority officials finally announced they wouldn’t reopen until Tuesday morning. Officials blame the delays on a software issue but said they don’t think it was a cybersecurity issue.
The last time Charleston’s ports experienced similar delays was in 2020 when IT issues caused the Wando Welch and North Charleston terminals to close.
READ MORE: “S.C. Ports to resume all operations at marine terminals and inland ports Tuesday.”
“Never. Never. This is the first time, ever, I’ve seen this happen,” said Kristy Ray, a truck driver for TLD Logistics.
Dozens of trucks lined the sides of the highway as drivers were unable to get their jobs done.
Monday’s delayed opening first got pushed from 10 a.m. to noon, and then a second time to 2 p.m. Finally, after 1 p.m., S.C. Port officials announced it wouldn’t be happening at all.
For truck drivers, it meant no work and no pay.
“If you don’t get to work, you don’t have any miles, so you don’t make any money. So, it does affect everyone that can’t make a delivery because they can’t get their container,” Ray explained.
READ MORE: “Inland Port Dillon, other SC terminals to remain closed due to software issue.”
She’s an out-of-state driver who said she’s paid by mileage. Ray traveled more than seven hours from Tennessee to South Carolina before she learned the news of a delayed start.
For local drivers, they said they’ve never seen Charleston’s ports close for a full day.
“A software issue, like I said, it’s about an hour or so when something happens. They have a glitch or anything, about a half hour, an hour, or an hour and a half at the most. I’ve never seen it down all day,” said Robert Vestrand, a truck driver for B.W. Mitchum.
Vestrand typically drives in and out of the Wando Welch and North Charleston terminals. He said work has been the slowest he’s seen in the last four years but said the SC Ports typically do a great job.
Vestrand thinks the impact of Monday’s delays will be felt for the rest of the week.
“You will be behind today, but now you’re going to see congestion because everybody’s behind. And now it’s going to be trying to get in and get out. It’s, it’s going to be a hard week,” he said.
Ports officials say full operations will resume Tuesday at 5 a.m.
Drivers told News 4 they wouldn’t be surprised if the terminals were open longer to make up for lost time.
Credit: Source link
