The strike by independent truckers appears to be over on the East Coast with most ports and terminals reporting the number of trucks calling at the gates was back to normal.

A major exception is Florida, where container operations at Miami and Port Everglades were shut down Wednesday.

In New York, "It's pretty much back to normal," said John Atkins, vice president of operations at Howland Hook Terminal. "We'll catch up by the end of the week, easily."

There were no demonstrators at any of the terminals in the port Wednesday morning amid steady truck traffic.

The number of trucks lined up at the gates of the Port Newark Container Terminal was also back to normal today, and the volume of cargo was gathering momentum, said Donald P. Hamm, president of PNCT. "I saw no picketers this morning," he said.

Volume at PNCT was 70 percent of normal on Tuesday, so the terminal is 30 percent behind. "We feel we'll be able to make up for Monday and Tuesday and master it by the end of the week," Hamm said.

Hamm said he was told by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey that the truckers who were demonstrating at the various terminals in the port Tuesday said that they would be back to work this morning.

"All of our truckers are back to work today," said Jeff Bader, president of the Association of Bi-State Motor Carriers in New Jersey and president of Golden Carrier’s. "We're back to full operations today, after being down by 50 percent on Monday and Tuesday."

Volume at the Port of Savannah was normal Wednesday morning, said Robert Morris, a spokesman for the Georgia Ports Authority. A few truckers had demonstrated at the port Tuesday until about noon, but "there's no sign of any picketers today," said Morris.

Despite the strike, throughput at Savannah had actually increased on the opening last week of phase one of the Gate 3 project.

About 50 truckers were continuing their demonstration outside the three container terminals at the Port of Charleston Wednesday morning, according to Byron Miller, a spokesman for the South Carolina Ports Authority.

"We're open today and fully staffed," he said. "We're hoping that all the truckers will return very soon.

He could not estimate what impact the strike was having on throughput at the terminals today, but said that volumes Tuesday had approached "reasonable levels by the afternoon.

He said the strike had cut traffic to about 75 percent of normal volume on Tuesday. "It was not back to normal volume

yesterday, but moving in that direction.

Volume at APM Terminals in Port Newark was back to normal this morning, after being cut by 5 to 8 percent on Tuesday and 17 percent on Monday, said Brett Bennett, managing director of port operations.

"What we were seeing was that truckers were cutting out optional moves," he said, explaining that truckers who had to return empty containers delayed doing so until the strike was over.

"We're not really behind today, so we don't have to catch up," said Bennett. "We are seeing more volume today than is normal for a Wednesday, but it doesn't amount to a hill of beans," he said. "My concern is more about handling volume over the [Fourth of July] holiday and the peak summer season."

Volume at Maher Terminals was reportedly cut by lot more, said one observer who requested anonymity. He said it was down by 50 percent on Monday and by 30 percent on Tuesday.

Port of New Orleans Chief Operating Officer Dave Wagner said about 30 truck drivers spent Tuesday picketing outside the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal, but truck traffic continued unabated. Wagner said truck traffic "moved normally" with trucks driving past protesters without incident.

By Peter T. Leach