11/16/2009  Port Truckers Protest Fees

Hundreds of trucks convoyed from the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports Friday to Los Angeles City Hall to protest parts of the ports' Clean Truck Program, snarling traffic on the 710 Freeway and in downtown LA.

According to the LA Times, the trucks circled City Hall, honking their horns, while protesters on the sidewalks waved signs.

The truckers were protesting the next phase of the year-old Clean Truck Program, a pollution-reduction effort at the ports that bans older trucks, among other rules. Beginning Jan. 1, trucks built before 1994 will be barred from the ports. Trucks built between 1994 and 2003 will require retrofits to reduce emissions.

Sofia Quinones of the National Port Drivers Association told the LA Times that tens of millions of dollars in grants have been awarded to trucking companies to help green their fleets, but none has been given to independent drivers who own their rigs. The group is asking for an extension of the deadlines, grant funding and an investigation of the program.

(See "Protesting Truckers Snarl Traffic on 710 Freeway and in Downtown LA," LA Times, 11/14/09.)




Intermodal: Related News

2/9/2010 - Trade Organizations Speak Out Against Ports' Regulatory Efforts In a letter to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, the National Retail Federation, writing on behalf of several trade organizations, urged the DOT to oppose the efforts of some ports to regulate the trucking industry.... More >

2/9/2010 - Intermodal Gains Market Share in Fourth Quarter During the fourth quarter of 2009, intermodal's share of U.S. long haul movements of international and domestic containers increased 0.2 percent from the third quarter, with 13.3 percent market share... More >

2/2/2010 - New Program to Help Seattle Port Operators Upgrade to Cleaner Trucks The truck operators working at the Port of Seattle now have a program to help them upgrade their older polluting diesel trucks with newer models that significantly reduce harmful diesel pollutants coming from the exhaust.... More >

1/29/2010 - AAPA Opts Out of Ports' Efforts to Regulate Trucking During a meeting of its Legislative Policy Council this week, the American Association of Port Authorities said that it would not be a part of the efforts by the ports of Los Angeles, Oakland and New York-New Jersey to regulate... More >

1/21/2010 - Trucks Hit By Delays Due to Port of Oakland's New Ban Trucks serving the Port of Oakland were hit by delays Tuesday amid the new ban on old trucks.... More >

1/20/2010 - Direct ChassisLink Expands Into Midwest Direct ChassisLink will offer chassis for use to drayage companies at marine terminals and railroads in the entire Midwest region starting March 1.... More >

1/18/2010 - Port of Los Angeles to Test Vision's Zero-Emission Trucks The Port of Los Angeles plans to purchase hydrogen fuel cell hybrid-electric trucks from Vision Industries.... More >

1/18/2010 - Port of Morehead City Reopens After Chemical Cleanup The U.S. Coast Guard has reopened the Port of Morehead City terminal following a chemical spill of pentaerythritol tetranitrate, which is explosive.... More >

1/15/2010 - Port of Oakland Truckers Granted Second Extension Truck drivers serving the Port of Oakland now have until Feb. 16 to comply with California's port truck rule aimed at reducing diesel emissions in and around port communities... More >

1/14/2010 - Port of Morehead City Closed After Chemical Spill The Port of Morehead City in North Carolina was closed Tuesday as first responders and emergency management officials addressed a chemical spill of pentaerythritol tetranitrate, the primary ingredient in detonating cords used for industrial explosions... More >

1/13/2010 - Ports Finally See Some Positive Signs of Growth in Container Volumes December was a good month for the ports, as retail container traffic saw an end to a nearly two-and-a-half-year streak of year-over-year declines.... More >