Los Angeles port to ban older rigs while adding cargo fee

The Trucker News Services

2/28/2008

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles City Council has approved a ban on older big rigs doing business at the Port of Los Angeles and a corresponding cargo fee aimed at generating $1.6 billion to pay for cleaner-burning trucks.

The action was taken by the council on Wednesday. A plan that would require drivers to be employees of trucking companies has yet to be adopted by the council. City and port officials are trying to finalize and most disputed portion of the Clean Trucks Program.

"There is a human element to this Clean Trucks Program, and I really believe that we can use this initiative to clean the air while also creating good-paying jobs," said Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, whose 15th District includes the port.

"This is a great first step, but now we need to tackle the labor element of this program," she said.

Some 16,800 drayage trucks built before 1989 will be banned from the Port of Los Angeles beginning Oct. 1, under the plan approved by the City Council. From there, trucks operating at the port will face increasingly stricter emissions regulations, with a goal to meet 2007 federal emissions standards by Jan. 1, 2012.

Port officials hope the plan will reduce diesel emissions by 80 percent within five years.

To pay for the program, the City Council also agreed to place a $35 fee on loaded 20-foot cargo containers entering the port, while a $70 fee will be slapped on 40-foot containers beginning June 1.

The fee will be paid by cargo owners and will not apply to containers entering or leaving the port by train, car carriers or fuel tanks.

The Los Angeles and Long Beach harbor commissions already approved the fee and implementation schedule late last year.

"While I'm a pro-business guy, I understand that there's a social responsibility that businesses carry," said Los Angeles City Councilman Greig Smith. "This is a giant step that will impact the people of this region, not just the Harbor Area, for decades and decades to come."

Martin Schlageter, campaign director for the Coalition for Clean Air, said that while he applauds the City Council's action, he remains frustrated with the fashion in which the Clean Trucks Program has progressed.

"This isn't the best way to get a program started, but these first two parts are vital in showing that the ports mean business when it comes to cleaning the air," Schlageter said. "I'm just hoping the port puts the rest of the plan on the table as soon as possible, because there are a lot of pieces left to be filled in."

Last week, the Long Beach harbor commission broke from its counterpart in Los Angeles by approving a plan that allows independent truck drivers to continue hauling goods to and from the port, as long as their vehicles meet the new environmental standards.

That's a far cry from a call by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the city's harbor commission and other city leaders to draft a plan that would require drivers to be employees of trucking companies.

The matter is still being studied, but it's unclear when a proposal will come before the Los Angeles harbor commission, according to Gordon Smith, a port spokesman.

"I'm hoping we will implement this soon because it's the right thing to do," Hahn said. "Maybe Long Beach is waiting to see if it's a workable plan, and then they will follow our lead. We've been partners so far, but they dropped this end of the bargain.”