Amid a whole bunch of those tariffs everybody’s talking about, truck drivers like Helen are feeling super stressed out. Helen makes a living hauling cargo containers from the Los Angeles and Long Beach harbors to warehouses around Southern California. The number of jobs has been slipping lately, and truck drivers are hearing that there might be a big drop in cargo coming in for May and June.
Helen, a 38-year-old mom of three, is worried about making ends meet even when things are normal. “There’s a real concern that we’re going to be struggling,” said Helen, a Downey resident who didn’t want to give her last name because she’s scared she might lose work if she seems unhappy. “If the ships aren’t coming in and there’s no loads, then there’s no work. And if there’s no work, there’s no money.”
With all of President Trump’s tariffs causing chaos for business owners and messing with American importing, the folks working at the busiest port in the country are feeling the effects too. Thousands of dockworkers, equipment operators, and truck drivers keep things moving at the Port of Los Angeles, which covers a whopping 7,500 acres on San Pedro Bay. This port handled over 10 million cargo units in 2024. The nearby Port of Long Beach moved 9.6 million units last year.
The tariffs on China, Canada, and Mexico, along with a bunch of other countries, are expected to slow down the flow of goods into the U.S. Less cargo coming into the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach means less work for the hardworking Californians who move all that stuff around. Raman Dhillon, the head of the North American Punjabi Trucking Assn., said, “The truckers are scrambling right now. They are on the verge of collapsing. The administration needs to move quickly, or it’s going to be chaos and price hikes and empty shelves.”
U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla and a couple of other Democratic senators held a news conference to slam Trump’s tariffs. They’re predicting lost jobs, higher prices, and stores without any goods. Dozens of agricultural exporters also had a conference call this week to talk about how the tariffs, and other countries’ retaliatory levies, will mess up overseas markets.
A 2023 report found that the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach brought in $21.8 billion in revenue for local service providers. They also generated $2.7 billion in state and local taxes and created 165,462 jobs. A 1% decrease in cargo to these ports would wipe out almost 2,800 jobs and put around 4,000 others at risk. Last week, Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka said arrivals could drop by 35% in the next 14 days.
This is a big worry for the folks in ILWU Local 13, a union that represents longshoremen who unload cargo at the ports. “They’re just wondering what’s going to happen,” said ILWU Local 13 President Gary Herrera. “Some of the workforce won’t be getting their full 40 hours a week because of the loss of cargo. Job loss is definitely a concern.”
Herrera and port officials say there will be over 30 “blank sailings” in May at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. That’s when cargo ships cancel their planned trips. This means 400,000 fewer containers will be shipped through the ports.
The ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles were doing great not too long ago, but now they’re facing a downturn. Navdeep Gill, who owns Ocean Rail Logistics, a trucking company in Northern California, says his business is already moving 60% to 70% less cargo because of the tariffs. His truckers usually move 50 containers a week, but lately, it’s been more like 10 to 15.
“When we’re not doing anything and the trucks aren’t working, then we lose money,” Gill said. “We have fixed expenses like insurance that we can’t avoid, so we’re losing money.”
Over the last three days, only 10 container ships are expected at the Port of Los Angeles, compared to the usual 17. “That’s going to have an effect on the work opportunities for not just us, but for truck drivers, warehouse workers, and logistics teams,” said Herrera, the union president. “This is the ripple effect of not having work at the waterfront.”
Helen said some of her fellow drivers had hoped for a better economy under Trump. Her husband also drives trucks to and from the ports, so their income is taking a double hit. Helen gets paid per load, so when there aren’t enough jobs, her income doesn’t even meet the minimum wage. “We feel like it’s going to get worse before it gets better,” she said. “You feel this looming uncertainty. It’s hanging over everybody.”
