U.S. District Court Judge Patricia A. Seitz has extended her restraining order against striking truckers at the Port of Miami by 45 days so the drivers would have time to seek legal representation, according to a statement from the port.

The judge also has set a hearing for Friday, Sept. 3, during which she is expected to decide whether to issue an injunction against the truckers. The judge was scheduled to hear the motion for a preliminary injunction against the truck drivers July 15.

The order was originally issued June 9 after officials of Dade County, which owns the port, went to court to stop the strike, which had virtually crippled shipping traffic at the facility.

Since the strike by about 700 independent truckers began June 28, the port has lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees because nine vessels were diverted to other ports, local media outlets reported.

The restraining order said Miami-Dade County, the port and Universal Maritime Services, a private terminal operator at the port, would suffer “immediate and irreparable injury, loss or damage” unless the striking truck drivers were forced to stop the boycott that “has prevented truck operators from serving the port.”

The county, port and Universal argued that, as independent contractors and nonunion members, the truck drivers were violating antitrust law by conspiring to obstruct trade. Universal Maritime Services said it had lost 95 percent of its business because no truckers would enter the port to pick up or deliver cargo and estimated its losses at $700,000.

The drivers say they want higher wages, saying that long waits at the port made their $50-a-load payment too low. Drivers also want a solution to the issue of liability insurance, which is deducted from their paychecks. They said they are not legally required to pay for the insurance through their carriers.