More than 400 truckers took to the streets Friday, protesting what they say are unfair regulations at the Los Angeles port. The purported aim of the regulations, cleaner air, isn’t the problem. Drivers tied up traffic on the I-710 freeway, and honked their horns outside of City Hall, trying to draw attention to their plight, saying the rule will force them to either give up independence or give up loading at the ports. Some held signs reading, “(L.A. Mayor) Villaraigosa, Don’t Tread on Me” and “NPDA Wants To Go Green. Help Us!”
The L.A. port’s Clean Truck Program requires trucks be replaced or retrofitted to meet stricter emissions standards. But the program has elements that are unconstitutional, truckers said, according to the L.A. Times. One provision of the ‘concession agreements’ requires any drivers operating at the port be employee drivers of trucking companies, according to the Journal of Commerce.
In addition to barring non-retrofitted trucks from hauling at the ports in 2010, owner-operators would be shut out from the ports beginning in 2013, even if they make costly equipment upgrades and meet the stricter standards.
While grants for retrofitting trucks to meet the new standards are available, according to the Sofia Quinones, of the National Port Drivers Association, the funding hasn’t been given to independent owner-operators. Quinones said going green wasn’t the issue, but the details of the program. NPDA represents thousand of independent truckers.
The American Trucking Association has challenged the concession agreements, claiming the measures preempt federal authority of interstate commerce.
Sources:
L.A. Times: Protesting truckers snarl traffic on 710 Freeway and in downtown L.A. Seema Mehta
The Journal of Commerce: LA Spending on Port Truck Dispute Exceeds $1 Million.
handyshippingguide.com. US and Canadian Freight Truck Professionals Protest In Different Ways.
Photo: Bryan Chan/Los Angeles Times
Click Here For Our Most Popular Pages
Derrick Belton says
Our Childern, These new people that have come of age don’t have a clue as to what makes this country run, they don’t understand that whitout trucks how will they eat, feed their kid, or go to the mall and buy things if trucks don’t make deliveries, stop putting all this pressure on the trucking industry, do you think because you work in a office that this does not effect you well think again because without trucks this country will self destruct, fast.