P.M. BRIEFING : Canada Truckers Block Border

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Independent truck drivers demanding higher pay blockaded U.S. border points but allowed bus, passenger, mail and non-commercial traffic through.

Grocery stores and gasoline stations ran low on supplies as negotiations aimed at ending the week-old strike continued late Sunday. A news blackout on the talks was imposed Sunday, mediator Brian Williams said.

Williams was in the middle of talks among representatives of the Teamsters Union, 180 trucking companies that hire independent drivers and the Western Owner Operators Assn., a 3,000-member organization of Canadian drivers that called the strike.

The truckers, who went on strike a week ago, are demanding higher hauling fees. Their blockade, which began Friday, has stalled trucks at four U.S.-Canada border points and along two Canadian highways.