BALTIMORE, Md. (WAVY) — Outside the Port of Baltimore Wednesday, truckers arriving with cargo containers expressed concern about their future in the wake of the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after a shipping container collided with it a day earlier.
The bridge collapse is presumed to have killed six people, with divers recovering two of their bodies from the Patapsco River.
“What am I concerned about? About the future,” said trucker Rakeem Jones. “My concerns about the future are getting the freight to come through here because you know the closest thing that we have if they are not able to clear it in time is we would have to go to Norfolk or [New] Jersey to pick our loads up.”
Jones mentioned Norfolk. Hampton Roads is indeed impacted by what happened in Baltimore, and though the full extent of what it means for the Port of Virginia is not yet known, people are thinking about it.
“it’s crazy, but what can you do about it? How has it changed my life? It has not changed anything yet,” said one trucker, identified only by his first name, Chris, on his way to the Port of Baltimore. “Next month come back and I will let you know.”
Tuesday, the Coast Guard moved from search-and-rescue to search-and-recovery. Six people are presumed dead, and it was learned Wednesday that two of them were found in a red pick-up truck in 20 feet of water.
Truckers are thinking about them too — the whole city is, along with the whole country.
“I think it’s a tragic thing what happened to the city,” Jones said. “I think the city is going to hold us up. I feel sorry for the families who had to go through this.”
Joshua Brink, who works for a local container storage company, noted that little to nothing is now coming to the Port of Baltimore.
“Nothing much is coming in except one or two containers, and everybody was trying to get their stuff out of the port yesterday,” Brink said, “but it’s usually backed up all the way down the street now nothing is coming in.”
Brink engaged in conversations with others — conversations that are taking place everywhere around the Port of Baltimore.
“I grew up around here, so this whole town is impacted,” Brink said. “We’ve lost a lot. We don’t have any containers coming in and it affects all the people who work here.”
And the conversation gets worse when talking about layoffs.
“Not yet, but that’s what you fear that’s what we fear,” Brink said. “It has been in the works — hopefully that doesn’t happen, fingers crossed.”
President Biden has announced he will come to Baltimore, and he’s already promised to use federal money to pay for a new bridge.
