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Port Shutdown Puts Sacramento Truckers Out Of Work

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – Occupy Wall Street protesters have managed to at least partially shut down some of the West Coast's busiest ports in the hopes they will cut into the corporations that run the docks. However, more than one hundred truckers in Sacramento say they are the ones being hurt.

The entire fleet at Devine Intermodal in West Sacramento is parked, leaving 120 drivers out of work, at least for the day.

Normally the drivers would be making two daily roundtrips to the Port of Oakland to pick up or deliver cargo.

The truckers are furious. If they don't drive, they don't get paid.

"Yeah, we're all gonna lose about $600 today. That's big money for this economy," said trucker Dwayne Forcell.

A dispatcher with the Devine Intermodal visited the port this morning before making the call not to send the trucks. The one day of lost wages could make a big difference with profit margins in the industry so small.

Truckers say if Occupiers are trying to go after the so-called one-percent, they're going about it the wrong way.

"If you gonna occupy something, go occupy the federal government. Go occupy the people that got the money," trucker Anthony Green Sr. "I don't have no money. I'm trying to make that money."

If the port shutdown continues, truckers predict prices for electronics and food could increase at stores with merchandise delivery delayed.

Tomorrow, the trucking company plans to send a few scouts to the Port of Oakland before deciding whether to send their drivers.

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