Nationwide Trucking Strike Approaches; Negotiations Stalled : Labor: Companies scramble for replacement freight haulers. A Teamsters walkout could start as early as Wednesday.

The growing threat of a nationwide truckers’ strike this week found companies preparing Monday for a possible disruption in freight shipments as contract talks between the Teamsters and trucking firms remained stalled.

A strike would leave companies with few viable alternatives if the major trucking companies were completely shut down, industry observers said. If successful, a strike could tie up shipments of a wide range of consumer goods to stores, as well as idle some factories with low inventories.

Talks between the Teamsters and Trucking Management Inc., which represents 23 large trucking firms in labor negotiations, broke down last week after the union rejected a proposal that it said would throw members out of work and dramatically lower starting pay. No further negotiations have been scheduled.

The heads of Teamster locals are scheduled to meet today in Washington, D.C., to finalize plans for the strike, which union officials said could begin as soon as 12:01 a.m. Wednesday if no settlement is reached.

“If there is a strike and if all 23 (firms) are shut down, there would not be enough capacity in the United States to handle that much freight,” said Douglas Rockell, a trucking industry analyst at Merrill Lynch Research. “It would be fairly nasty.”

Companies and consumers depend on firms like CF Motor Freight, Roadway Express and Yellow Freight for moving everything from coffee makers to auto parts. The 23 firms control about half of the country’s mid-size shipments, which are those between 500 and 10,000 pounds. Most of the firms, however, are not involved in perishable food shipments.

A strike would leave many companies scrambling for space on board the fleets of numerous but much smaller non-union carriers. Companies like United Parcel Service, which usually handle loads of 500 pounds or less, as well as trucking firms that routinely transport more than 10,000 pounds, could also pick up some business.

“We are watching the situation closely,” said Rhea Feldman, a spokeswoman for Hewlett-Packard, the Palo Alto-based computer maker, which would switch its shipments to carriers unaffected by the strike.

Even companies that depend on non-unionized trucking firms are concerned about the strike. “We would certainly experience some impact because of the increased demand on the carriers we use,” said Kathy Blackburn, a spokeswoman for Mervyns stores.

The threat of a strike comes at a pivotal time for both the unionized trucking firms and the Teamsters. The trucking companies say they need more flexibility in work rules and pay scales to deal with the growth of lower-cost, non-union firms.

The Teamsters say the trucking companies are seeking too drastic concessions of their drivers and dockworkers, 91% of whom last month authorized the union to call a strike if contract talks failed.

In addition to the lower starting pay, the union is upset by employer proposals to cut full-time jobs by adding lower-paid part-time workers, to ship more freight by railroad without safeguarding the jobs of drivers affected by the change and to eliminate the union’s right to strike over deadlocked grievances.

The contract talks come at a time when the 1.4-million-member Teamsters union is crippled by internal warfare, which could complicate its efforts to wage an effective strike.

Ron Carey, voted in as the Teamsters president in 1991 on a pledge to reform the corruption-plagued union, increasingly is being challenged by opponents, including many tied to the organization’s old-guard leadership.

Last month, a dues increase pushed by Carey to replenish the union’s nearly depleted strike fund was rejected, 3 to 1. In February, many Teamsters at United Parcel Service defied Carey’s call to join a strike against that company and reported to work.

Some key figures in the Teamsters, however, said the rift within the union would be bridged in this case by the opposition among the rank-and-file to concessions sought by trucking companies.

“I’ve been at odds with Carey on a number of issues, but on this issue, I agree with him.” said Chuck Mack, an official with the Western regional conference of the Teamsters. “There are times for politics but not when the members’ livelihoods, and the security of their families (are at stake), and that’s what we have now.”