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May 6, 2016

ZERO EMISSIONS TRUCKS * USA: Calls for 100,000 near-zero emissions commercial vehicles

* California - State plan calls for massive overhaul of California’s trucking, freight systems

--- A massive transformation of the freight movement system involving everything from big-data connectivity to biofuels and electric trucks, is envisioned in a new California Sustainable Freight Action Plan released Tuesday... The draft plan, subject to a two-month comment period, calls for the deployment of more than 100,000 zero- and near-zero emissions trucks, locomotives, harbor craft, airport ground service vehicles and other freight-moving equipment throughout the state by 2030. Significant cuts in emissions from the freight segment by 2050 are another goal... The plan seeks to cut emissions by slashing use of petroleum-based fuels, improving safety and reducing the freight industry’s carbon footprint in California. It would rely on state powers to help improve industry efficiency and finance the large equipment and infrastructure costs adherence to the plan would impose on the industry... Heavy duty trucks, which contribute significantly to air quality issues in the state, would be a prime target for electrification and the use of natural gas engines and clean renewable fuels... The draft action plan is the fruit of a year of work involving multiple state agencies, private industry and groups representing environmental and labor interests... “The freight system in California is a system of systems, operating independently and not talking to each other,” said ARB spokesman Stanley Young. “This plan is an arena for improving communication” ... 
(Photo: Los Angeles County crews reopened stretches of five roads in mountain communities about 40 miles north of Los Angeles)   --   Sacramento, CAL, USA - Trucks.com, by JOHN O'DELL - May 3, 2016

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Oct 30, 2010

CLEAN TRUCKS * USA - Port of Oakland Enrolls 5,000th Truck in Security Program

Secure Truck Enrollment Program designed to reduce pollution, improve security

Oakland,CAL,USA -The Journal of Commerce Online, by Bill Mongelluzzo -Oct 28, 2010: ... The Port of Oakland Thursday celebrated a milestone in its Secure Truck Enrollment Program. There are now 5,000 trucks enrolled in the system... The STEP initiative is a component of Oakland's Comprehensive Truck Management Program, which is designed to reduce pollution and improve security in the harbor trucking sector... STEP was funded through Proposition 1B, a measure passed by California voters in 2006... (Photo from serc.si.edu: Map of San Francisco and the Port of Oakland)

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Mar 24, 2010

Federal Transportation Law * USA - Opposition Mounting to Union-backed Change to

Washington,DC,USA -Trailer Body Builders -Mar 22, 2010: -- A California congressman has joined a number of national leadership groups in opposition to a campaign by the Teamsters union and allied politicians to change long-standing federal transportation law... The union is seeking taxpayer-funded help in organizing port drayage truck drivers by banning independent owner-operators from ports. The Teamsters hope to attain this by pushing Congress to change the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA), which prevents state and local jurisdictions from regulating interstate trucking and commerce... The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers also oppose any change to the FAAAA... The American Association of Port Authorities also refused to endorse the Port of Los Angeles position on amending the FAAAA... The Clean and Sustainable Transportation Coalition – 31 groups that represent exporters, importers and the logistics industries and service providers that support them – also opposes the union effort to change the FAAAA... (Image from joc.com: Box Moving)


* Senate denies “Brown Bailout”; UPS, FedEx Express react



Washington,DC,USA -Fleet Owner, by Brian Straight -March 23, 2010: -- The U.S. Senate on Monday voted 93-0 to advance the FAA Reauthorization Act to fund the FAA through 2011. The bill itself is not unlike the transportation bill that we’re all waiting for Congress to act upon. This bill, though, which focuses on the nation’s airline industry, includes a battle that has been waging for some time between UPS and FedEx Express... The Senate bill, which does not include language reclassifying FedEx Express truck drivers under the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Act rather than the Railway Labor Act, must still be reconciled with the House of Representative’s version, which does. The change in classification, which FedEx Express dubbed the “Brown Bailout,” would presumably make it easier for FedEx drivers to unionize. UPS, which supports the bill, is heavily unionized already... (Video from YouTube, by Norm50cal - 16 June 2009)

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Mar 4, 2010

Port Pollution * USA - A Silent Killer

"If we invest $100,000 in a new vehicle and we're making $2,000 a month or less, it doesn't make sense," said Mr. Prestol, who blames trucking deregulation for pulling down drivers' pay. "And what guarantee do you have after you buy a new truck that you'll continue to get work?"

New York,NY,USA -The Huffington Post John Petro -February 26, 2010: -- Many, if not most, of the products that we have in our homes first passed through one of the country's seaports. As gateways of global trade, our seaports give consumers access to a wide range of goods at a low cost. However, these gateways also create enormous amounts of pollution. And for those Americans that happen to live near a seaport, this pollution is a serious health hazard leading to negative health outcomes and even death... But Los Angeles is not the only city where port activities impact local residents... The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey currently has its own clean port program, but it isn't nearly as ambitious as it should be. The Port Authority currently has money available to replace 630 dirty trucks, but this is only about one quarter of the number of trucks that need to be replaced. Which is why the Port Authority should consider doing what Los Angeles has done: put a $70 fee on cargo containers that come into the port to fund the purchase of more clean trucks... And because port truck drivers in New Jersey cannot afford to purchase new, clean trucks, the Port Authority should place the burden of purchasing new trucks on the trucking companies... Port truck drivers in New Jersey make about $29,000 a year after expenses like fuel, insurance, tolls, and truck maintenance are taken into account... (Photo: PW/Marilyn Bechtel Trucks at the NY Port)

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Feb 26, 2010

CLEAN TRUCKS * USA - Clearing the Air at American Ports

New York,NY,USA -The New York Times, by STEVEN GREENHOUSE -February 25, 2010: -- The Teamsters union and environmental activists have formed an unlikely and outspoken alliance aiming to clear the air in American ports, and perhaps bolster the Teamsters’ ranks in the process... The labor-green alliance is getting under the trucking industry’s skin by asserting that short-haul trucking companies working in ports — and not the truck drivers, who are often considered independent contractors — should spend the billions needed to buy new, low-emission rigs that can cost $100,000 to $175,000 each... The Teamsters union says seaport air is so dirty largely because port truck drivers earn too little to buy trucks that would belch out fewer diesel particulates, tiny particles that contribute to cancer and asthma. Working with environmentalists, the union helped persuade the Port of Los Angeles to adopt a far-reaching plan that bars old trucks from hauling cargo from the port and puts the burden of buying new vehicles on the trucking companies, not the drivers... The battle has intensified as federal officials press ports to adhere to clean-air regulations. Seaports from Newark to Miami to Seattle are confronting the same issue: who should pay for the cleaner trucks? ... Michael Fox, president of a trucking firm in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., opposes any mandate that companies treat drivers as employees... “It’s just a bad idea to dictate that you can only do business one way,” said Mr. Fox... With the injunction in force, some companies that hired drivers as $18-an-hour employees now employ them as independent contractors... Once again, many drivers are rushing to haul as many loads as they can each week, although they often wait for two unpaid hours to pick up loads. Many say they now earn $8 to $10 an hour. Mr. Holmes and many environmentalists ask who will buy the next generation of trucks in five years if it is left to the drivers... (Picture by Monica Almeida/The New York Times - The Port of Los Angeles has put the burden of buying new vehicles on carriers, not drivers. New trucks can cost $100,000 to $175,000 each)

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CLEAN TRUCKS * USA - Court Rejects Injunction in L.A. Port Plan

Ruling ‘Not Significant,’ ATA Says

San Francisco,CAL,USA -Transport Topics -25 Feb 2010: -- A federal court ruling on the Port of Los Angeles’ clean trucks plan will not significantly affect a lower court ruling that temporarily halts the port from implementing most of the port’s concession requirements, according to American Trucking Associations... A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday to allow the port to continue enforcing certain motor vehicle safety-related provisions contained in its concession plans... The ruling did not change a previous court decision to allow owner-operators to continue operating at the port. The port had sought to only allow drivers who were employees of trucking companies... The case, it's scheduled for trial in mid-March in Los Angeles federal court... (Photo from ca9.uscourts.gov)

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Jan 22, 2010

CLEAN TRUCKS * USA & Canada - Port of LA Extends Lobbying Contract

Efforts to draw new limits on federal trucking oversight and allow local regulation of harbor trucking

Los Angeles,CAL,USA -The Journal of Commerce Online, by Bill Mongelluzzo -Jan 21, 2010: -- The Los Angeles Harbor Commission Thursday approved a contract extension to represent the port's interests involving its clean-truck program. The Washington lobbying firm is spearheading port efforts to draw new limits on federal trucking oversight and allow local regulation of harbor trucking... Efforts by the Port of Los Angeles to amend the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act have divided the freight transportation industry... At the core of this effort is an attempt by the Teamsters union to organize port truckers nationwide. Most harbor truck drivers are owner-operators, and unions by law can not organize independent contractors... Transportation companies and cargo interests oppose any attempt to weaken federal government authority over interstate commerce. A unionized driver force, such as existed before the trucking industry was de-regulated in 1980, would result in increased harbor drayage costs, they argue... The F4A prohibits state and local governments from regulating truck rates, routes and services. Los Angeles is seeking regulatory authority over harbor trucking in issues related to security and the environment...


* Canada - Quebec adopts California light-duty emission rules

Montreal,QBC,CAN -Fleet Owner (USA) -Jan 21, 2010: -- Quebec has become the first Canadian province to adopt California’s emissions standards for cars and light-duty trucks, according to Reuters news agency. The new rules will impose increasingly stringent limits on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from cars and light trucks made between 2010 and 2016 that are sold in the province... Emissions from vehicles will be cut by about 35% over the four years, from 187 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer for passenger vehicles to 127 grams per kilometer by 2016, Charles Larochelle, Asst. Deputy Environment Minister for Quebec, said in an interview...

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Jan 6, 2010

CLEAN TRUCKS * USA - Backroom Deal Leaves Long Beach Truck Program in Hands of Polluting Industry

Los Angeles,CAL,USA -Big Trucks -January 4, 2010: -- A backroom agreement between the American Trucking Associations (ATA) and the Long Beach Harbor Commission could illegally reverse efforts to improve air quality in communities surrounding the Port of Long Beach, according to a lawsuit filed last week by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Sierra Club...

* Environmental Groups Sue Long Beach Over Port Agreement

Long Beach,CAL,USA -Transport Topics -5 January 2010: -- Two environmental groups have filed suit against the Port of Long Beach, Calif., over its decision to settle a federal lawsuit challenging its authority to regulate trucking at the port, the Associated Press reported... The Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit in state court last week, claiming port and city officials violated state law requiring public involvement and an environmental review before agreeing to a deal with American Trucking Associations... The agreement involves settling certain aspects of the port’s clean trucks program, aimed at reducing diesel emissions... Meanwhile, both ports, faced with declining container traffic, have launched a new campaign to compete aggressively with smaller U.S. ports and other competitors in Canada and Mexico, the Los Angeles Times reported...


* Port of Oakland, truckers reach agreement on emissions

Oakland,CAL,USA -ABC/KGO TV, by Don Sanchez -January 4, 2010: -- A threatened shut down at the port of Oakland was averted on Monday, but it did not return to business as usual. Hundreds of truckers are idle filling out paperwork as part of deal reached in a marathon negotiating session over the weekend to help them meet new clean air standards... The line was so long, people had to be turned away at the end of the day at the Port of Oakland. They were filling out forms to ask for financial assistance for a filter to help reduce diesel emissions, so they can continue driving their trucks into the Port of Oakland... Hundreds of independent truck drivers parked for the day, but not as a work stoppage. They are applying for money to help them retrofit their trucks with a new filter to meet new state diesel emission standards...


* CARB adds $11 million to port truck funding

Sacramento,CAL,USA -Land Line Magazine, by Charlie Morasch -January 4, 2010: -- The California Air Resources Board and a local air quality district have released an additional $11 million to help truck owners comply with a New Year’s Day deadline for California’s port drayage rule... The new funding allocates $5,000 per truck toward the cost of retrofitting a diesel particulate filter for more than 1,200 trucks, as well as $50,000 toward the purchase of new trucks to replace 103 old trucks...

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Apr 9, 2009

CLEAN TRUCKS PROGRAM * USA - Oakland port's air quality proposal criticized

Oakland,CAL,USA -The Contra Costa Times, by Denis Cuff -8 April 2009: -- The nation's fourth-largest container port still faces tough decisions about how to reduce diesel emissions from trucks, ships and trains after Tuesday's adoption of its first comprehensive master plan for reducing the toxic pollution... Richard Sinkoff, the port's director of environmental programs and planning, noted that the Port Commission agreed Tuesday to restore up to $5 million in funding for grants to trucks to install diesel soot filters required of trucks using ports by a Jan. 1, 2010, state deadline... Sinkoff said the Port Commission plans this summer to decide on a container fee, which would charge freight owners to raise revenue for pollution reductions... Port officials said the port also is expected to make a controversial decision this summer whether to require trucking companies to make truckers full-time employees so the companies will bear the cost of pollution filters required on old trucks. Most port truckers are independent contractors... The clean air plan also calls for a reduction in pollution from ships while in port, trucks idling in lines, and railroad locomotives hauling freight, Sinkoff said...

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Apr 7, 2009

CLEAN PORTS PROGRAMS * USA - Business Makes a Call

There’s far less activity at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles than there has been for several years

Long Beaqch,CAL,USA -The Journal of Commerce Magazine, by Bill Mongelluzzo -Apr 6, 2009: -- Facing declining market share, Southern California ports are sending a surprising message to shippers: There’s far less activity at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles than there has been for several years as ports nationwide brace for what could be a 10 percent decline in total U.S. container volume in 2009... Ports in the U.S. and abroad face the same downturn from deteriorating global trade as just about every company concerned with moving goods does. But as the nation’s largest single port complex, and perhaps the largest single center of goods movement, the ports on California’s San Pedro Bay are taking a big share of the decline, with container volume plunging 40 percent in Long Beach in February and 32 percent in Los Angeles... At the same time, the acres of clear space across the ports’ terminals also seem to have given officials at Los Angeles and Long Beach a different view of the downturn. Port executives now concede the dismal performance is due at least in part to burdensome business practices, unpopular cargo fees and neglect in soliciting the views of shippers when developing policy initiatives...


* Tacoma Elicits Support for Clean-Trucks

Program to modernize the remaining 14 percent of drayage fleet

Tacoma,WASH,USA -The Journal of Commerce, by Bill Mongelluzzo -6 April 2009: -- Shipper, trucker and environmental groups registered their support for the Truck Emissions Improvement Program unveiled by the Port of Tacoma... The Washington Trucking Association, Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, Washington Department of Ecology, Washington Retail Association, Washington Department of Transportation and the Port of Seattle commented on the program at the weekend... Although a 2008 study found that 86 percent of the harbor drayage fleet already meets 2010 emission standards, Tacoma is moving forward with a program to modernize the remaining 14 percent of the fleet... Tacoma intends to implement a market-based program to encourage motor carriers to replace older, polluting trucks. Unlike the Los Angeles-Long Beach clean-trucks effort, the Tacoma plan does not involve cargo fees... The port will partner with private and public organizations to identify funding opportunities for the fleet modernization program. Tacoma will also pursue operational and technological measures to improve efficiency, including electronic tracking technology, formation of a chassis pool and secure pre-gate parking... Also, Tacoma will work with the neighboring Port of Seattle to implement common components of the two trucking plans and coordinate efforts to expedite infrastructure projects... (Photo courtesy Port of Tacoma)

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Apr 6, 2009

Ports' clean-rig program * USA - Puts truckers in more comfortable driver's seat

Dumping exhaust-spewing rides for new trucks that offer comparative luxury is one advantage of complying with the L.A. and Long Beach harbor complex's lower-emissions effort

Los Angeles,CAL,USA -Los Angeles Times, by Ronald D. White -April 6, 2009: -- The cargo is pretty much the same -- a rusty 40-foot container filled on a recent morning with 50,000 pounds of Asia-bound hay cubes. The trip on a recent Saturday also was unchanged: the few miles between the 51-year-old Los Angeles Harbor Grain Terminal and the TraPac Inc. terminal at the Port of Los Angeles... But that's where the similarities end... Now he travels to and from the local ports in a sparkling new 2009 Kenworth T800 liquefied natural gas truck with a drive train that derives 95% of its power from natural gas... The Kenworth required just one smooth try to latch on to a container and its chassis, and it pulled away as if the 250-ton load weighed almost nothing. Inside the quiet, almost stylish, air-conditioned cab, there was no hint that 5% of the truck's power came from diesel fuel. The only odor: the familiar organic compounds known as new car smell... (Photo by Ann Johansson/LA Times - Heriberto Perez Jr., an independent owner-operator, is leasing a 2009 Kenworth T800 that runs on liquefied natural gas. The new truck keeps the foul-smelling emissions from older rigs at the Port of Los Angeles out of his climate-controlled cab, he says)


* Truckers Sue to Enjoin Clean-trucks Concessions

Los Angeles,CAL,USA -The Journal of Commerce Online, by Bill Mongelluzzo -Apr 6, 2009: -- ATA says provisions deal with administrative efficiency, not safety... The American Trucking Associations asked the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to enjoin all of the concession requirements imposed by the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach on motor carriers in their clean-trucks plans... In a filing at the weekend in Los Angeles, the ATA asked the court to enjoin the concession agreements "in toto," stating that virtually all of the provisions in the agreements are directed toward administrative efficiency, rather than motor vehicle safety... Judge Christina Snyder, in her original ruling last summer, denied ATA's request for a preliminary injunction, stating that the concession agreements that harbor drayage companies must sign in order to operate at the ports are necessary for reasons of truck safety and port security...

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Mar 25, 2009

Clean-Truck Programs * USA - All over Ports Plan

Ports across the country are developing programs to cut pollution

Newark,NJ,USA -The Journal of Commerce Online, by Bill Mongelluzzo -Mar 24, 2009: -- From the Pacific Northwest to New York-New Jersey, ports across the U.S. are developing clean-truck programs, although they will attempt to avoid the litigation and fees associated with the Los Angeles-Long Beach program... Due to the unique geography and climatic conditions of Southern California and the large concentration of distribution centers that are located as far as 60 miles from the harbor, trucks account for 36 percent of all particulate matter pollution in Long Beach and 40 percent in Los Angeles... By contrast, trucks account for 1 percent of total port PM emissions in Tacoma and 7 percent in Seattle, Sarah Flagg, seaport air quality program manager at the Port of Seattle said. Those ports are heavily rail-dependent, and their intermodal transfer yards are located at or near the waterfront... Trucks account for 7 percent of total port PM emissions in Oakland, 5.6 percent in Houston and 12 percent in New York-New Jersey... The general intention of clean-truck programs at other ports is to expedite the introduction of new 2007-model trucks that meet federal Environmental Protection Agency clean-air standards, or to encourage retrofitting of trucks to reduce pollution...

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Mar 24, 2009

CLEAN TRUCKS PROGRAM * USA - Port waives fees for some private trucks

Long Beach,CAL,USA -The Press Telegram, by Kris Hanson -23 March 2009: -- Long Beach is scrapping container fees for truck owners who forgo public funds to purchase clean diesel fleets used in and around the harbor... The move - effective May 4 - comes in the wake of a barrage of complaints from businesses upset that Long Beach continued levying fees on containers moved by "clean" trucks purchased without financial help from the ports... By contrast, Los Angeles has been exempting containers handled by privately-funded rigs since October... The decision comes as businesses look to cut costs in the wake of an unprecedented downturn in international trade. Cargo volumes in Long Beach dropped 40 percent in February from a year prior...

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Dec 19, 2008

Ports Fee * USA - FMC blocks port’s “Clean Truck” fees

Washington,DC,USA -Logistics Management, by Patrick Burnson -18 Dec 2008: -- Shippers were provided with early holiday cheer yesterday as news came that the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) will reevaluate certain aspects of the Clean Truck Program proposed by the Port of Los Angeles (including elements that the Port Fee Services Agreement would implement)... In a statement, FMC Commissioners Creel and Dye noted that, given the significant changes in the nation's economic situation, they must continue to fulfill the FMC’s statutory obligations to ensure that the agreement will not “unreasonably reduce” competition in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach... FMC spokesmen added that it is working on an up-to-date analysis of the port’s programs, to ensure that foreign trades operate free from substantially anticompetitive activities... Meanwhile, the commission’s request for additional information delays the effectiveness of the Port Fee Services Agreement until 45 days after the parties have submitted the requested information and documents. Accordingly, as the Port Fee Services Agreement is not yet effective, the Shipping Act prohibits the parties from implementing any program pursuant to the authorities contained in the agreement...

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Dec 16, 2008

CLEAN TRUCKS * USA - Court nixes quick ruling on clean trucks

The question of who will own an operate new, clean trucks has been controversial

Los Angeles,CAL,USA -Pacific Shipper, by BILL MONGELLUZZO -December 15, 2008: -- Shippers using old trucks to haul containers in and out of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach may be on the verge of having to pay a $35-per-TEU fee, even though the legalities remain unsettled... Any hopes for a quick ruling on the legality of the ports’ clean-trucks programs were dashed on Dec. 5 when a federal judge said he wouldn’t rule before January on the Federal Maritime Commission’s request to block certain provisions in the clean-trucks program... The FMC and the ports had hoped for something more definitive before Dec. 18. That’s the day the FMC must decide whether to intervene to block an agreement by the ports that details how they intend to collect a $35-per-TEU fee on trucks that don’t comply with strict new emissions standards... The ports are counting on the fee to raise at least $1.5 billion over five years to help subsidize programs to help motor carriers purchase new trucks that comply with emissions standards... The trucking industry is challenging the ports’ concession requirements under the federal pre-emption rule, which bars state and local entities from regulating the rates, routes and services of motor carriers engaged in interstate commerce. The concession requirements direct how motor carriers operate in the harbor, and the Los Angeles concession phases in a requirement for the use of employee drivers... Joining the ATA in friend-of-the-court filings were several federal agencies, including the Justice Department, and industry organizations representing cargo interests and terminal operators...

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Dec 15, 2008

CLEAN TRUCK PROGRAM * USA - Program Produces Lots Of Concessions, Few Scrapped Trucks

Los Angeles,CAL, USA -The Cunningham Report -13 Dec 2008: -- One measure of the Port of Long Beach and Port of Los Angeles clean truck programs is whether the ports finally have a handle on what kinds of trucks are frequenting their terminals and how much pollution those trucks emit... By that standard, the program is a smashing success. Less than three months after the launch, the two ports have 16,340 trucks fully registered in their Drayage Truck Registry. That number approximates the 16,800 trucks believed to be frequent and semi-frequent callers to the ports... Another measure is whether there are fewer dirty trucks on the road. By that standard, success has eluded the ports. Under the two ports' grant program, only five older trucks have been scrapped and replaced by 2007 U.S. EPA compliant models. Eight more have been scrapped under a Port of Los Angeles-only buyback program that pays $5,000 per truck, for a total of 13 trucks destroyed so far. Another 30 trucks are waiting to be scrapped under the buyback program, although the Port of Los Angeles has yet to contract with a scrapping company for its alternative program...


* OPINION - California trucks could be next on the endangered list

CAL,USA -you should know, by Jason Hall -December 14, 2008: -- Mary Nichols chair of the California Air Resources Board and others voted unanimously this month make it even tougher for goods and services to be delivered by trucks. This woman looks as though she really has a grasp on the business of transportation... What they have mandated is that all trucks over 14,000 lbs and bigger than a F350 or a GM 3500, will have to install filters on their trucks to filter out diesel fumes. By the way this will cost approx. $12,000 per vehicle. This not only places undue burdens on C.A. trucks but also any truck that would enter this great socialist state... This Air Resources Board has effectively cut them selves off from the rest of the country, which is not necessarily a bad thing... The fact that California seems to not heed to the peoples will explains why this type of ruling would never have been put to a vote, namely because it would have been soundly defeated... The reasoning for the genesis of this lousy REGULATION is to supposedly save the lives of 9,400 people between 2011 and 2025. This is from the fumes of trucks at loading docks and other places where trucks and people work together... What will the air resources board will do if the lives they are going to save die by other means; such as, I dunno, the caffeine in the coffee that dock workers drink or the fast food they eat or diabetes that they will get by eating doughnuts or if they are killed by drunk drivers on their way home from work. More than 3,000 people a year are killed on Americas road ways, not to mention the fog in areas of California that cause millions in damage every year. Is the California Air Resources Board going to require that interstates have fog filters installed... All of this during a time of economic hardships. And what does the “Govenator” have to say about this economic nut crusher. Yeah that what I thought also…nothing... This state should be looked at as a warning to the rest of the nation, as to what can happen when you let the loonies run the asylum...


* Truckers, Dockworkers Have Higher Lung Cancer Risk

Los Angeles,CAL,USA -The Cunningham Report -13 Dec 2008: -- Trucking industry workers exposed to vehicle exhaust have an elevated risk of lung cancer, and that risk increases the more years the worker is on the job, according to a study just released by CARB and the EPA. The study looked at work records and causes of death of 31,000 Teamsters between 1985 and 2000 and examined lung cancer mortality and employment duration in certain job categories, including dockworkers, clerks and mechanics... The analysis was limited to men older than 39 years of age in 1985 with at least one year in the trucking industry. The study found that lung cancer mortality risks were elevated in workers with jobs associated with regular exposure to diesel and other vehicle exhaust, and that risk increased with more years on the job...

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Dec 9, 2008

CLEAN TRUCKS * USA - FMC in no hurry to approve program

Long Beach,CAL,USA -Logistics Management, by Patrick Burnson -8 Dec 2008: -- While all West Coast ports seem to be vying to “out green” one another, a setback for the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach occurred last week when the Federal Maritime Commission declined to grant the Port Fee Services Agreement's request for expedited review of their so-called “clean trucks” agreement... Meanwhile, U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon told the ports that he will not rule before next year on a FMC’s request to block parts of the clean-trucks program at Southern California's ports... Port attorneys how have until December 17 to file responses to legal arguments at a hearing in Washington on the FMC's request for a preliminary injunction against some portions of the plans... Industry analysts told LM that the competitive balance has been shifting to ports in the Pacific Northwest, East Coast and Gulf ports partly as a consequence of this ongoing legal battle... “There’s enough options now for shippers to simply bypass these ports until the issue is settled,” said Jon Monroe, president of Monroe Consulting. “And cargo is always going to flow to the gateways that provide the lowest total cost”...

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Dec 4, 2008

CLEAN PORT RULES * USA - Point of view

USA -by tymes -4 Dec 2008: -- The ports should wake up and smell the coffee... They have dictated long enough!... Not only have they been in breach of fair business practice regarding independent peoples fair right to do business on a daily basis... But they have also dictated when trucks can do business as well as what equipment can be used to do it... Who are they to dictate how these business men run there trucking businesses and what equipment they use to do so... Do you have to have a reservation to go to the corner store to get a jug of milk !... They make it impossible to get reservations for allot of companies and put allot of business in bad situations financially because it hinders there right to run there companies efficiently and productively !... Why does the federal government stand by and do nothing???... It is without a doubt a crime what they are doing and should be stopped immediately... It is no wonder our economy is falling on it's face...

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Dec 1, 2008

Clean Truck Program * USA - L.A. Port Operations Chief Rips FMC Port Trucking Analysis

Los Angeles,CAL,USA -The Cunningham Report -30 Nov 2008: -- The Los Angeles-Long Beach ports' answer to the request for a preliminary injunction filed by the Federal Maritime Commission against the ports' clean truck programs was accompanied by 19 affidavits, containing declarations from port executives, environmental group staff members, regulatory agency folks, consultants, trucking executives, and drivers. Among those submitting affidavits were: Port of Los Angeles operations chief John Holmes and Port of Long Beach environmental chief Bob Kanter... In his affidavit, Holmes detailed the history of the Port of Los Angeles Clean Truck Program and noted the progress to date. Nearly two months into the program, the port was already ahead of schedule in cleaning up the air, thanks to the incentive plan that rewards companies joining the drayage fleet that already have clean, he said. So far, almost 800 companies have applied for concessions at the port with approximately 43,000 trucks committed to drayage, he said. The latest figures show that 1,600 of those trucks are EPA 2007-compliant with about 800 more clean trucks expected by the end of the year...

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Nov 2, 2008

CLEAN TRUCKS PROGRAM * USA - LA Port Won't Stop for FMC Suit

Los Angeles,CAL,USA -Journal of Commerce/Traffic World, by Bill Mongelluzzo -30 Oct 2008: -- The Port of Los Angeles has vowed to maintain its licensing program for harbor trucking companies even if the Federal Maritime Commission succeeds in blocking enforcement of the employee driver requirement... The FMC on Wednesday announced that it will sue in U.S. District Court in Washington to block certain provisions in the LA-Long Beach clean-trucks program that the commission believes are anti-competitive... While the commission does not intend to challenge those aspects of the plan that are designed to reduce diesel emissions by 80 percent over the next five years, the commission expressed concern over certain licensing provisions, especially the Los Angeles requirement that motor carriers phase employee drivers into their fleets... Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Geraldine Knatz, in a prepared statement Wednesday, said the port has already instituted a ban on old, polluting trucks and will move forward with that program regardless of what happens in court... "Even if the court issues an injunction temporarily halting the employee mandate requirement, the port will continue with all other aspects of the [clean-truck plan]," Knatz stated...


* FMC's Brennan Opposes LA Trucks Suit

Washington,DC,USA -Journal of Commerce/Traffic World, by Bill Mongelluzzo -31 Oct 2008: -- Federal Maritime Commission member Joseph E. Brennan blasted his fellow commissioners for voting to seek a federal court injunction to block certain requirements of the Los Angeles-Long Beach clean-trucks program... Commissioners Harold J. Creel and Rebecca F. Dye on Wednesday voted to sue in U.S. District Court in Washington to block certain requirements they believe are anti-competitive. Brennan, the third member of the three-member commission, voted against the motion... Brennan agrees with the Los Angeles view that employee drivers are needed in order to ensure the sustainability of the clean-trucks program. He said owner-operators earn on average $29,000 per year, which qualifies a family of four for public financial assistance...

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