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Cargo mover waits out “catastrophic” halt in Baltimore port business 

“It was like, ‘OK, this is a horrific event. And how are we going to recover from this?'” says Dawn Speakman, founder of Drayage Solutions in Baltimore.

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Crews are still working to clear the wreckage from the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore.
Crews are still working to clear the wreckage from the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

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Last year, the Port of Baltimore handled a record 52 million tons of international cargo, worth more than $80 billion. But after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed on March 26, those imports and exports have virtually stopped.

And while crews remove the wreckage, thousands of workers are waiting to get back to their jobs at that port. Among them is Dawn Speakman, founder and president of Drayage Solutions in Baltimore, which trucks shipping containers from the port to warehouses.

“We had some work for a few days that was already in the pipeline, but after that, we are 100% shut down,” Speakman said. “We have nothing to move, so it is catastrophic. We are at a complete standstill.”

Click the audio player above to hear her story.

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