News Flash

Port of Los Angeles Unanimously Approves Landmark Plan to Clean Up Port Trucks

(March 20, 2008) - The Port of Los Angeles unanimously adopted a comprehensive Clean Trucks Program (CTP) March 20, 2008.  At the press conference immediately following, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa asked Program Associate Candice Kim to join him on stage as he thanked her for the good work of the Coalition for Clean Air in its continued efforts to push the newly adopted plan.

This program is a critical step in reducing the harmful impacts of port truck pollution on our environment, public health and the health of port truck drivers. It represents a major milestone in the years-long effort to address major sources of pollution at the port. CCA has been there every step of the way and has worked hard for the development and passage of an effective plan to clean up port trucks.

The Port of Los Angeles (POLA) has shown good leadership by passing a plan that will secure high environmental and workforce standards by shifting the burden of upgrading and maintaining a clean trucking fleet from underpaid truck drivers to trucking companies and cargo owners. 

The Coalition for Clean Air is thrilled that POLA has adopted this model because it will ensure that the considerable resources that are invested in the modernization effort will have lasting success and will bring stability, safety and environmental responsibility to the chaotic, race-to-the-bottom world of port trucking. 

As a steering committee member of the Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports (CCSP), CCA has proven how effective a partnership between environmentalists and labor advocates can be. Together, CCSP was able to achieve the workforce standards that are the key to securing lasting and meaningful environmental gains in the POLA Clean Truck Program. This campaign is being closely watched by labor and community based organizations around the nation that are hoping to replicate the dynamic partnership that CCSP has created.

The Port of Long Beach (POLB) just adopted a Clean Truck Program that is similar to the one adopted by POLA. Unfortunately, a glaring and conscious omission from the POLB plan is the workforce standards provision that several key economists have identified as the key to a working plan.

CCA’s next steps are to continue efforts to strengthen the Long Beach Truck plan and to work with both ports and mayors to align the two clean truck programs, with the hope of negotiating a unified plan between the ports.

Background

More than 80% of the 16,000 frequent and semi-frequent trucks serving the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are driven by “Independent Owner Operators” (IOOs) who work through trucking companies that own no trucks themselves but instead act as middlemen between shippers and drivers. Fierce competition in a crowded market has resulted in low drayage rates, and as a result, port trucking has become a magnet for trucks that are poorly maintained and must run as cheaply as possible.

Overall, trucks servicing the goods movement system significantly contribute to harmful air pollution and health risks, especially impacting those near the ports, rail yards, freeways, and other hubs of goods movement activities. The Air Resources Board found that trucks are responsible for approximately 68% of emissions from goods movement sources. 

The concession-based program adopted by POLA will provide sustainable emission reductions, accelerate modernization of polluting truck fleets, and utilize market incentives to facilitate the shift toward a cleaner, more responsible port trucking system. 

This program provides the implementation plan to meet the environmental standards passed by the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach late last year, starting with a ban on pre-1989 trucks beginning October 1, 2008. By January 1, 2010, only trucks built after 1993 will be allowed into port shipping terminals; and by January 1, 2012, all trucks must meet 2007 federal emission standards.

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