Chile's busiest container port is moving cargo again after independent truckers called off a nine-day blockade of its off-dock depots, clearing the way for container traffic to resume at the Port of San Antonio.

The deal, reached after government-mediated talks, gives the truckers an immediate 8% increase in haulage rates and lets independent hauliers negotiate directly with logistics operators. Future rate reviews will be linked to transport costs and diesel prices.

What the agreement covers

The truckers' association, Agrupación de Camioneros Independientes de San Antonio (Agreporsai), signed agreements with depot operators including Agunsa, Contopsa, Medlog, Sitrans, DYC and CIS. Chile's undersecretary of economy, Karlfranz Koehler, confirmed that the blockades had been lifted and that operators were preparing to resume work under the new arrangements.

The settlement also includes financing support for smaller transport companies and a truck-registration system aimed at improving access control at the port. Land services and the reception of refrigerated containers resumed as depots reopened.

Under the deal, independent truckers will also be authorised to take part directly in local cargo tenders, and future price reviews will use a permanent indexation mechanism based on the national statistics institute's ICT-Diesel index. The government also outlined support for working capital and equipment modernisation for small and medium-sized hauliers.

Nine days of disruption

The stoppage began on 28 October, when independent truckers blocked access to the port's inland storage depots in protest at frozen haulage rates, rising diesel prices and additional road tolls. The blockades stopped containers moving between the port's marine terminals and off-dock storage facilities, leaving about 2,500 containers backed up inside the terminals.

The disruption came at a sensitive moment for Chile's fruit exporters. Two planned cherry shipments bound for China were diverted from San Antonio to Valparaíso as the blockade threatened the opening weeks of the export season.

Fruit exporters welcome the reopening

Exporters' association Frutas de Chile welcomed the agreement, saying port operations were returning to normal. Its president, Iván Marambio, said San Antonio was “already functioning normally”, while warning that one depot had yet to join the settlement.

Marambio said the deal was an important step for the industry at a key point in the fruit export season, and he hoped the remaining depot would join soon so the logistics chain could run without interruption.

The immediate priority is now clearing the container backlog and restoring normal cargo flows before the peak cherry export season. Other truckers' groups in Chile were separately planning a national stoppage on 10 November over diesel prices, so the wider dispute over fuel costs is not yet settled.