North American Markets

00:03:23 Trucker Trouble: Marvin Fortune, a truck driver from East Brunswick, says that business has been down lately. I; Fortune, says business has been hard, says cargo is down due to the recession, spoke about his financial problems. Fortune is an independent trucker who drives cargo in and out of the Port of NJ. V; Port of NJ footage. I; David Bensman, Rutgers University professor, says the people pay the cost of a broken and unregulated industry, talks about the dangers of using old trucks. Bensman just finished a study on independent port truckers, and says that because the industry isn't regulated truckers can't make money and can only afford old trucks, which pollute the air. V; Semi trucks, truck drivers. Christine Persichette reporting. 00:05:00

[CC] 00:08:30 Thousands of New Jersey truckers are living dangerously close to the poverty line. They're just not earning enough to maintain their trucks and pay their bills. That's the finding of a new study from a Rutgers professor. News 12 New Jersey's Derricke Dennis is in the Edison newsroom now with more. This study is just out today. It surveyed about 300 drivers who pick up and deliver at the Port of Newark, and the drivers say the economy is forcing them to take dangerous shortcuts, putting lives at risk. Professor David Bensman says he originally set out to study why truckers are sitting in long lines at the port, but what he discovered was that thousands of truckers are sitting idle waiting for work, work that's been drying up in the economoic downturn. The result is port truckers are earning less, which means they're driving older trucks and skipping routine maintenance, like emissions work to cut down on air polluon, or more immediate concerns like driving on bald tires. "As you can see my truck needs tires, and I cannot afford them because of no money..." 00:11:30