Port Wants to Get Rid of Independent Truckers by 2013
By the year 2013, only drivers employed by trucking companies will be allowed to bring cargo in and out of the Port of Los Angeles.
The plan, approved by the Los Angeles Harbor Commission on May 15, will gradually phase out cargo pickups by independent truckers, who currently are the primary cargo carriers around the port.
This latest development was brought about by the Clean Truck Program, adopted last year by both the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach. The program makes it mandatory that the 16,000 to 18,000 diesel trucks serving the ports gradually be retrofitted or turned in for newer, cleaner models that meet 2007 federal emissions standards by 2012. That program begins on Oct. 1.
The $2 billion cost of buying new trucks or retrofitting them will be underwritten by the ports through a $35-per-20-foot-container fee for all cargo picked up and dropped off. The goal is to reduce 80 percent of the diesel emissions coming from freight trucks by 2012.
Geraldine Knatz, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, said the decision to allow only company-employed truckers past the ports’ terminal gates will help reduce truck emissions as quickly as possible. “Our Clean Truck Program will ensure that funds are invested into a sustainable system where trucks are maintained for maximum emissions reductions and concessionaires operate in a safe and efficient manner,” she said in a statement.
While the Port of Los Angeles will allow only company-employed truckers by 2013, the Port of Long Beach has decided to allow both independent truckers and company-employed truckers through its terminal gates.
The Los Angeles port’s program for truck drivers goes into effect next year, with 20 percent of a truck company’s fleet required to be made up by employees by the end of 2009. By the end of 2010, that requirement jumps to 66 percent. It is 85 percent by the end of 2011, 95 percent by the end of 2012 and 100 percent by the end of 2013.
Trucking companies have not been very happy with this decision, fearing that the Teamsters Union will try to unionize their drivers and increase wages. The American Trucking Associations has threatened a lawsuit against the Port of Los Angeles if the facility decided to make it mandatory that only company-employed drivers call at the port.
Port of Long Beach’s Redevelopment Project Moves Forward
Officials sent out an environmental-impact report for its latest project, called the Middle Harbor Redevelopment Project.
The report was released May 19, giving the public 45 days to study and comment on the report, which measures the environmental impact of the $750 million plan that will take 10 years to complete.
The Middle Harbor plan at the Port of Long Beach would reconfigure two older, irregularly shaped container-shipping terminals to create one rectangular-shaped facility that would be more efficient and greener. The port would fill 54 acres of water between the two existing terminals to create a longer wharf, room for more cargo and a major on-dock rail yard.
That would increase the new terminal to 345 acres, rather than the current 295 acres, more than doubling the number of containers coming through the terminal to as many as 3.3 million, 20-foot containers. About 50 percent of the increase in containers will leave by rail.
With more containers, there will be more trucks moving that cargo. The project could increase daily truck trips from about 6,500 a day to 10,000 a day. Trucks will be required to use the freeways rather than travel through residential neighborhoods.
Security Funds for Major Ports Increased
The federal government was generous this year in handing out security funds for ports around the United States.
The Department of Homeland Security announced on May 16 that it would give out more than $844 million in security grant awards, a 29 percent increase over last year. The awards will be used to strengthen port security as well as improve trucking and intercity bus-system security. They will also be used to respond and recover from terrorist attacks, major disasters and other emergencies.
The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach received the second-highest award for ports, with $38.1 million. The New York/New Jersey port complex was No. 1, with $45.5 million.
Slow Steam Ahead at Ports
Container traffic is down for the year at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. At the Port of Los Angeles, container traffic during the first four months of this year dipped 7.36 percent to 2.45 million, 20-foot containers over the same period in 2007. At the Port of Long Beach, container traffic slid 6.5 percent to 2.1 million during the first four months of 2008.
