Judge Christina Snyder of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California Monday made a tentative ruling to enjoin many of the principal elements of the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles' Concession Plans.


Snyder was following the March 20 guidance of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit,

"We are pleased with the tentative ruling and look forward to Judge Snyder's final decision later in the week," said Curtis Whalen, Executive Director of the Intermodal Motor Carrier Conference (IMCC) of the American Trucking Associations, which had challenged elements of the Concession Plans, part of the ports' Clean Truck Programs.

In the tentative ruling, Judge Snyder ordered an injunction against seven key concession requirements that would illegally regulate interstate commerce at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

1. The employee mandate of the Los Angeles plan that banned independent owner-operators from the port;
2. The driver hiring preferences of both plans;
3. The motor carrier financial capability requirements of both plans;
4. The driver health insurance mandate of the Long Beach plan;
5. The designated routes and parking restrictions of both plans;
6. The contractual tie-in of the clean truck tariffs mandated by both plans; and
7. The concession fees of both plans.

Enjoining these concessions came after a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth District unanimously ruled in favor of ATA on March 20 and remanded the case to the U.S. District Court, indicating that the judge should grant ATA an injunction against all or part of the Concession Plans.

"The Court of Appeals' decision made very clear that ATA never opposed any of the environmental goals of the Ports' Clean Trucks Plan, just components that illegally regulated the drayage industry at the Ports," Robert Digges Jr., ATA vice president and chief counsel.

ATA has always supported the retirement of older dirty diesel trucks from the ports along with the container fee that assists in the transition. Enjoining these concession plans will not affect the goals of the Clean Trucks Program, the association says.