BALTIMORE, MD — Baltimore’s recently reopened shipping channel has restored the hope of displaced workers. Port employees are already back to full schedules two months after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse killed six road workers, blocked most maritime traffic and cost at least 1,000 jobs.
Though longshoremen are back to work, trucking companies still face lengthy travel times and some layoffs.
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“I was pissed,” laid-off port trucker Jordon Callier said, noting that he was close to eviction before this job. “This job really put me in a position to make sure I had a roof over my head.”
Business leaders released a report this week saying recovery will require financial support, plans for future economic disasters and constant bridge-rebuilding communication.
“The port is back. Yes, absolutely. The bridge is not,” Maryland Chamber of Commerce President Mary Kane told Patch on Tuesday.
‘Baltimore Is Back Open’ For Longshoremen
Scott Cowan, president of the International Longshoremen’s Association Local 333, saw his union brothers struggle throughout the port slowdown. Longshoremen unload ships, so these daily-hire port hands had few hours without incoming cargo.
Nearly 2,100 of the 2,400 longshoremen were out of work after the container ship Dali toppled the Key Bridge on March 26, Cowan said. The 984-foot vessel lost power and struck a bridge support, blocking the Patapsco River with debris for just under eight weeks.
The ensuing maritime downturn was a blow to Maryland’s economy.
Including Callier, 1,106 port workers had collected unemployment insurance by May 21. An unemployment hotline for port workers had received 5,056 phone calls by the same date.
“Some people were struggling to make ends meet. Some were not being able to live the way they normally live,” Cowan told Patch on Tuesday. “They were having trouble, frankly, putting food on the table.”
Read all of Patch’s Key Bridge collapse coverage here.
Government, union and nonprofit aid helped port workers stay afloat.
The Maryland General Assembly passed emergency financial relief within two weeks of the disaster. The bipartisan legislation was named the Protecting Opportunities and Regional Trade Act, better known as the PORT Act. Gov. Wes Moore (D) signed the bill into law on April 9.
The law authorized weekly $430 payments to port workers earning less than before the collapse. The Maryland Department of Labor’s ongoing Worker Support Program had paid 2,506 laborers a combined $5.973 million as of May 21.
Through the PORT Act, the state also paid companies to keep employees on their payroll. The Department of Labor had awarded grants to 248 port businesses by May 21. This $16 million in funding saved the jobs of 2,858 workers. The application for this Worker Retention Program closed on May 17.
The International Longshoremen’s Association amended its internal pandemic relief trust to allow payments to affected Baltimore members. Cowan declined to provide the value of these payments. The union additionally paid out vacation and holiday time while ensuring its brothers kept their medical benefits.
Nonprofits have also chipped in to help longshoremen. The Baltimore Community Foundation on May 10 launched one-time $1,000 payments to port workers.
Cowan applauded the “tremendous” relief efforts.
“They really stepped up to the plate,” Cowan said. “It made a big difference.”
Cowan was always confident that the channel would reopen by the state’s May 31 target.
Crews used controlled explosives to free the Dali from the wreckage on May 13. The ship was refloated and relocated on May 20, restoring the channel to a serviceable depth and resuming all marine traffic 55 days after the tragedy.
Officials hope to reopen the original 50-foot-deep, 700-foot-wide channel by June 10. The shipping lane is already 50 feet deep, but it’s only 400 feet wide.
Cowan said longshoremen are processing 31 ships this week, which would’ve been a busy slate even before the disaster. These vessels carried cars, paper and sugar.
Container shipments have been slower to resume because these trips are usually booked a month and a half out. With the channel just reopening and vessels scheduling upcoming visits, Cowan expects container shipments to peak in six weeks.
“Baltimore is back open,” Cowan said, urging shipping companies to return.
‘Life Doesn’t Stop’ After Trucker Laid Off
Longshoremen may be back in business, but the trucking industry is still aching.
The Key Bridge connected the industrial hubs of Sparrows Point, Hawkins Point and Curtis Bay. Truckers relied on the Interstate 695 crossing to traverse the Patapsco River, as hazardous materials like gasoline are prohibited in the Interstate 95 and 895 tunnels.
Trucks must now wait in tunnel traffic or circumnavigate the Baltimore Beltway if they have hazardous materials onboard. These delays limit the productivity of drivers, who have legal limits on hours spent behind the wheel.
“Now, they have to go around the beltway or they go through the city,” Kane said. “It’s just taking longer. It’s going to cost more when it takes longer.”
Some transportation companies had to trim costs. Callier lost his trucking job the day after the bridge’s demise.
Bills stacked up for the 28-year-old, but he stays positive because his three children depend on him.
“I’m behind on rent, but it’s going to catch up,” the Owings Mills resident told Patch on April 16. “I’m very optimistic.”
Callier has been a trucker for seven years. He’s delivered everything from packages to fuel.
The Baltimore County resident said he most recently worked for Safeway Trucking Corporation, hauling port deliveries to a nearby East Coast Warehouse in Sparrows Point. Safeway Trucking isn’t related to the Safeway grocery chain.
Callier remembers seeing a video of the Dali shipwreck early that morning. He didn’t immediately recognize the Key Bridge in the clip, but he had a hunch after a moment.
“I felt like I’d been on this bridge,” Callier said. “I was just like ‘If this [is] the Key Bridge, I might not have a job.'”
Callier said he started at Safeway in early January. He was laid off less than three months later, a termination notice reviewed by Patch stated.
The layoff hit home for Callier as a father. His 12-year-old son Joshua, 4-year-old daughter Ava and 1-year-old daughter Amora all depend on him.
Callier has had to choose between paying bills and putting clothes on his kids’ backs. He had promised to buy his son new clothes around the time he was laid off. He kept that promise despite having no income.
“Your life doesn’t stop when you get terminated,” Callier said. “You still gotta continue on to take care of your kids.”
Callier went on unemployment insurance about a month and a half after the layoff. He’s using the break to change careers and earn his fitness trainer certification. The online program will take him about three months. He also hopes to eventually open his own business and donate profits to charity.
“I’m going to look back and [say,] ‘I went through what I went through, but it was worth it,'” Callier said. “Pick yourself back up and figure it out.”
Businesses ‘Not Back To Normal’
Business woes extend beyond the trucking industry.
The Maryland Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday released a report detailing financial challenges since the bridge was destroyed.
The survey included responses from 51 businesses in industries from warehousing and construction to hospitality and logistics. Just over half cited employee impacts, and nearly two-thirds reported revenue losses.
The affected businesses were concentrated in Baltimore County, but some respondents felt the pinch as far away as St. Louis.
“Getting the port back up and running as quickly as we have, has helped that a lot,” Kane said. “People are going back to work, of course not everyone. I think the biggest struggle is going to be transportation in and out of the port and transportation in and out of that area.”
Two governmental programs lent a helping hand to stumbling companies.
The PORT Act’s third initiative, the Emergency Business Assistance Program, distributes grants to offset lost revenues and increased costs. The Maryland Department of Commerce has granted a combined $8.5 million to over 100 ailing companies in this push. Applicants can request up to $100,000 in funding, and $6.5 million remains available in this grant pool.
The U.S. Small Business Administration has similarly offered low-interest Economic Injury Disaster Loans to over 400 companies as of Wednesday. Those offers are worth a combined $20 million, and more than $4 million has been disbursed so far. Applicants have 60 days to review their loan offer and decide whether to accept it.
The Maryland Chamber of Commerce appreciated the aid but said some businesses were reluctant to take on debt.
Kane is now considering an internal support mechanism for future economic disasters. After the bridge fell, a hotel contacted the chamber and offered to house first responders. Kane hopes to create a stockpile of these member resources to deploy during future emergencies.
“That was wonderful, and it’s amazing,” Kane said. “But could we have that ready ahead of time if something happened?”
The chamber’s report highlighted the need for constant communication on the rebuild. This will be crucial for the more than 30,000 daily drivers who took the bridge and contributed nearly $57 million in 2023 tolls.
Attention now turns toward rebuilding the bridge. Officials estimated that the new crossing will open by fall 2028 and cost up to $1.9 billion. President Joe Biden (D) promised that the federal government would pay for the entire project.
Kane wants all eyes on the bridge rebuild. She’s worried the port bounce back will cause waning interest and assumptions that “everything’s back to normal.”
“It is not back to normal. Losing that bridge was a key infrastructure component,” Kane said.
A list of financial resources for workers and businesses is posted at keybridgeresponse2024.com/communityresources.
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