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American Trucking Association and allies target proposed truck operation mandates

LOS ANGELES – 07/31/08 – Two major trucking industry groups have filed suit in US District Court challenging proposed plans crafted by the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to implement cleaner trucks by forcing drivers to purchase and maintain their own vehicles.

According to media reports, the Virginia-based The American Trucking Associations (ATA) and its affiliate, the Intermodal Motor Carriers Conference (IMCC), are asserting that the proposed “Concession Plans will limit access to the ports to only those trucking companies that have entered into concession contracts approved by the port program administrator.”

The suit also names the Long Beach Harbor Commission as a defendant.

In its filing, ATA asserts that the ports’ actions violate the federal statutory provisions which prohibit states or their political subdivisions from enacting or enforcing a legal requirement that is “related to a price, route, or service of any motor carrier.”

The ATA said the filing points to “a host of regulatory requirements – such as the submission of truck-maintenance, safety and parking plans; equipment marking and tracking; financial oversight; routing mandates; and periodic reviews and audits – that will dramatically affect a motor carrier’s operations at the ports in terms of price, routes, and services.”

The trade organization “believes that these concession programs unlawfully re-regulate the port trucking industry to the detriment of motor carriers, shippers, and the businesses and consumers that depend on the products that are handled at those ports,” said ATA President and CEO Bill Graves.

Further detailing the suit, Graves went on to say that the plans “impose a broad range of operational requirements that create a regulatory environment very similar to state intrastate economic regulation.”

Both ports, he said, “have acknowledged that these intrusive regulatory systems will result in far fewer trucking companies being able to service the ports, reducing competition.”

The two industry groups “are particularly concerned with the Port of Los Angeles’ concession requirement that will lead to a complete ban of the use of independent contractor/owner operator drivers in servicing that port’s operations within five years,” he said.

“That requirement, which has nothing to do with the clean air goals of the ports’ Clean Truck Program, threatens a well-established trucking industry operational practice that provides efficiencies and the flexibility needed for the trucking industry to effectively serve our customers,” said Graves.

The ATA head emphasized that the litigation is not aimed at and should not interfere with the ports’ clean air efforts.

“Despite the additional costs that our industry will incur, we strongly support the ports’ efforts to reduce truck emissions and our lawsuit does not challenge any aspect of those efforts,” he said.

The 3,600-member California Trucking Association issued a statement supporting the lawsuit.

In a press release, the Sacramento-based group said the cities' plans “would displace thousands of independent truckers and force smaller trucking companies out of business.”

The Port of Long Beach was quick to respond to the suit, saying that it is “committed to implementing the landmark Clean Trucks Program as scheduled, notwithstanding litigation filed…by the American Trucking Association (ATA).”

Truck pollution “is a serious threat to public health – including the health of truck drivers,” said Port of Long Beach Executive Director Richard Steinke. “We need to move forward without delay to improve air quality.”

The Port of Long Beach, in its response, however, said it expects its Clean Trucks Program to stand up in court.

The plan “was crafted carefully and the Port expects it to be validated by the courts,” Steinke said, but, in the meantime, the port’s legal staff is reviewing the ATA lawsuit and will submit a formal response.”

Long Beach, Steinke said, “has worked closely with the trucking and shipping industries to develop a workable program. It is disappointing that the ATA is seeking to impede this critical air quality initiative.”

Despite this litigation, he said, “we are still moving full speed ahead toward our goal of reducing pollution from the truck fleet by 80 percent by 2012.”

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said in a statement in response to the lawsuit that, “We are committed to rolling ahead with the world's most ambitious and bold plan to simultaneously green and grow a port.”

Unlike the Long Beach plan, Los Angeles would require the nearly 17,000 independent truckers who work at the port to eventually become employees of trucking companies.

Critics of the Los Angeles plan assert that this is a “thinly veiled attempt” to unionize low-wage drivers, a claim disputed by both the Los Angeles Harbor Commission and the Mayor’s Office.

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