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.)