Pictures show a line of trucks outside the Port of Auckland as the truckers’ strike continues into its second week

Shocking pictures of laden cargo boats waiting to be unloaded at the Port of Auckland show the real-time impact of the truckers’ strike, now in its second week.

Independent truckers have been blocking access to the port since last week, preventing ships from unloading at the major shipping hub and causing further disruption to supply chain already facing the stress of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s COVID-19 quarantine measures.

Truck drivers protested CaliforniaAssembly Bill 5, an act of 2019 that would require certain industries, including trucking, to classify independent contractors as regular benefit employees.

Many truckers argued the law eroded their autonomy and upended the way they do business, and a challenge to the law stalled last month after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to advance the case.

Independent truckers have been blocking access to the port since last week, preventing ships from unloading at the major shipping hub

The protests began last Monday and have since blocked access to the port, except for a weekend break that was planned to reduce activity at the port over the weekend.

Pictures of the port show rows of stacked cargo containers with nowhere to go, and an armada of fully loaded cargo ships queuing up unable to unload their cargo.

Demonstrators wearing t-shirts with the word “AB5” crossed out in red across their chests could be seen at a camp in California with cargo cranes sitting idle out back.

Truckers are protesting California Assembly Bill 5, a 2019 law that would require certain industries, including trucking, to classify independent contractors as regular benefit employees

Many truckers argued that the law destroyed their autonomy and upended the way they did business; challenges to the law stalled last month after the US Supreme Court declined to take the case forward

The Port of Oakland is a key hub for California’s more than $20 billion worth of agricultural exports, which include almonds, dairy products and wine.

The eighth-busiest US container seaport – which also handles imports such as coffee, electronics and hatch covers – was already working to clear a backlog of cargo caused by the pandemic before the truckers’ protests began.

Port officials told Reuters that some port terminals are being leased to companies planning their operations and may have made some deliveries during the protest break on Saturday morning.

Pictures of the port showed rows of stacked cargo containers with nowhere to go, and an armada of fully loaded cargo ships lined up at the port with nowhere to unload their cargo

The Port of Oakland is a key hub for California’s more than $20 billion worth of agricultural exports, which include almonds, dairy products and wine

It is not yet clear whether the protests will resume on Monday.

Bill Aboudi, a trucking company owner and supporter of the protests, told Reuters that would be determined by how negotiations over the law went.

“Whether or not the protests will resume on Monday will be determined only on Monday, as the truckers are actively negotiating with the authorities concerned,” Abudi said.

Operations at the Northern California port ground to a halt last week after protesters used pickets and tractors to block terminal gates.

Work on ships and docks slowed after cargo flows came to a halt and hundreds of members of the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousing Union (ILWU) refused to cross the blockade line for safety reasons.

Operations at a Northern California port ground to a halt last week after protesters used pickets and tractors to block terminal gates

The Port of Oakland is a key hub for California’s more than $20 billion worth of agricultural exports, which include almonds, dairy products and wine

Truckers against AB5 say it would make it harder for companies to classify workers as independent contractors.

They say the law would require them to spend thousands of dollars on insurance and leasing equipment such as landing gear to remain independent.

“AB5 is everything that stands in the way of a small trucking business owner’s ambition to realize the ‘American Dream,'” Abudi said.