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DISCUSSIONS & REALITY * USA - Port of Long Beach's clean-trucks loan program is criticized
The plan to replace old, polluting rigs with cleaner ones will put low-income drivers deep in debt, a coalition of groups says
Los Angeles,CAL,USA -The Los Angeles Times, by Louis Sahagun -August 20, 2008: -- A coalition of consumer, immigrant and civil rights groups warned Tuesday that a Port of Long Beach loan program to help thousands of mostly low-income truck drivers replace old, polluting rigs with newer, cleaner-burning vehicles could plunge the truckers into debt... Port officials counter that the loans are a bargain and that truckers would not be able to afford new rigs without them. But the coalition foresees a wave of "foreclosures on wheels"... The coalition urged the port to convert its loan program to one similar to the system Daimler created for the Port of Los Angeles... In that plan, which is strongly supported by the Teamsters and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, investments in new trucks will be handled by trucking companies that employ their drivers. In Long Beach, by comparison, individual drivers are being asked to invest in new trucks... Port of Long Beach spokesman Art Wong said the coalition "had it wrong" with its criticism. He said that the loan program, which requires payments of $500 to $1,000 per month for seven years, was worth about $60,000 to $70,000 for participating drivers... Authorities at both ports on Tuesday blamed general confusion for the low number of drivers now expected to submit applications for vehicle loans by the Sept. 4 deadline...
* Fairness at the ports - The Port of Long Beach is at a big disadvantage with its Clean Trucks program. It's playing fair
Long Beach,,CAL,USA -The Press-Telegram -20 Aug 2008: -- ... That's not the way opponents are playing. A coalition you've probably never heard of, backed by the Teamsters Union, is criticizing the port for trying to lure truck drivers into deep debt and "foreclosures on wheels"... The attack would be laughable if it weren't a potential obstruction to cleaning up port-related pollution... The coalition consists of The Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, The League of United Latin American Citizens and The Consumer Federation of California. This group is pressuring the Port of Long Beach to switch to a program used by the Port of Los Angeles and backed by the Teamsters... The difference between the programs is that Long Beach's port allows either independent owner-drivers or drivers employed by trucking companies, while Los Angeles' port allows only company-owned trucks. The Teamsters don't want to allow the choice, because it would be easier to organize and control an employee-only system... This makes sense only from the Teamsters' point of view, since 90 percent of the truckers who haul containers at the ports are independent operators who, in a survey, made it clear they don't want to give up their independence... The fair thing to do is to allow the choice. But this isn't about fairness... It also isn't about "foreclosure on wheels"... Long Beach's program offers generous grants to drivers who want to buy a $100,000 truck for a third that much, or lease one for as little as $311 a month for the first two years and $511 a month for the next five years. Try that on the open market... The conflict with the Teamsters tends to obscure the benefits of the Clean Trucks program for residents of the region. By outlawing the oldest and dirtiest trucks effective Oct. 1, diesel pollution will be cut in half almost immediately, and cut by 80 percent by the year 2012. It also adds to confusion among drivers, who have until Sept. 4 to apply for vehicle loans... A benefit so important to health is too important to get knocked around in arguments with a union. Long Beach isn't banning employee drivers, it's merely offering a choice. The Teamsters are saying it has to be their way or the highway... The fair thing to do also is the righteous thing to do. The Port of Long Beach is right to stand by its Clean Trucks program...
* A Daimler official told Long Beach officials
Washington & Famington Hills, Mich,USA -DaimlerChrysler Forum -Aug 20, 2008: -- ... A delegation of high-ranking representatives from civil rights, minority, consumer and worker rights advocacy groups, were joined today by several dozen activists carrying signs calling for an end to a predatory lending scheme by Daimler/Mercedes Benz and the Port of Long Beach... Noisy protests at the German Embassy in Washington, DC and Mercedes-Benz’ parent company in the Detroit-area culminated with the simultaneous delivery of a report to company and diplomatic officials entitled “Foreclosure on Wheels: Long Beach’s Truck Program Puts Drivers at High Risk for Default”... Under the terms of the lease-to-own scheme, Daimler will financially back low-emissions trucks (costing $100,000-$200,000 after volume discounts) to any driver whose dirty diesel rig was recently banned by the port, regardless of his/her credit worthiness and ability to pay. Port drivers, before the cost of fuel skyrocketed, netted an average of $11 an hour. The monthly payment for the trucks is between $500-1,000 for seven years, with a balloon payment of $7,000-$15,000 at the end of the lease term... A Daimler official told Long Beach officials in a public forum on June 30 that the company expects “over 40%” of port drivers to have “high difficulty meeting the payments,” a staggering acknowledgement overridden by Daimler’s strength in “managing collections,” i.e., repossessing trucks...
* 2 big haulers sign on to L.A. port's clean-truck plan. Both Arizona firms are both members of an industry group that has sued to block the new rules
Los Angeles,CAL,USA -The Los Angeles Times, by Ronald D. White & Louis Sahagun -August 22, 2008: -- The Port of Los Angeles' clean-truck replacement effort received a significant boost Thursday when two Arizona-based freight haulers signed letters of intent to participate in the program... Both the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach have provoked opposition from the American Trucking Assn. over their plans to replace the aging fleet of about 16,800 mostly dilapidated rigs that produce a large portion of the diesel pollution at the nation's busiest cargo container complex... But the potential participation of the two Phoenix-based companies -- Swift Transportation Co., with 37 major terminals in 26 states and Mexico, and the publicly traded Knight Transportation Inc., with nearly half of its fleet consisting of 2008 model trucks -- was seen as a significant development. Both are members of the ATA... The two Arizona companies said that the letters of intent made sense because both already had customers who moved goods through the ports and had expressed concerns about their ability to get their products delivered promptly... (Photo by Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times - The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are trying to reduce diesel emissions from the trucks that serve them. Above, truck traffic at the Port of Long Beach) Labels: "Clean Trucks" Program
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