Long Beach Port Approves Registration Plan for Drayage Drivers as Part of ATA Deal

This story appears in the Nov. 23 print edition of Transport Topics.

Commissioners with the Port of Long Beach, Calif., gave preliminary approval last week to a new drayage truck registration process, the first step toward meeting the obligations of their out-of-court settlement with American Trucking Associations.

The port said the new registration process primarily calls for drayage operators to pay a $250 fee, install radio frequency identification tags, and ensure that their trucks meet the minimum environmental, safety and security requirements of the port’s existing diesel emissions reduction plan.

Prior to the settlement with ATA, drayage operators had to file proof of financial capability and provide information on off-port parking plans, driver training, vehicle maintenance, insurance and driver hiring preferences.

However, the scaled-down registration process will “in no way change the progressive ban on dirty trucks,” said Alex Cherin, head of the Long Beach port’s trade relations and operations.

“They’re happy with it, and we’re happy with it,” Curtis Whalen, executive director of ATA’s Intermodal Motor Carrier Conference, said of the new process.

Port commissioners gave preliminary approval of the plan on Nov. 16 by a 3-1 margin. A final vote is scheduled for Nov. 23, but the essential provisions contained in the registration plan already have taken effect, a port spokesman said.

Long Beach and ATA officials reached their out-of-court settlement on Oct. 19, after several months of private negotiations.

The dissenting vote on the new registration process came from Commissioner Mario Cordero, who said officials should wait to hear the final outcome of ATA’s lawsuit against the Port of Los Angeles’ clean trucks plan, set for trial in March.

“There is a significant difference between our concession and registration plans,” Cordero said. “At this point in the ATA litigation, is it wise to change the model?”

The Port of Los Angeles’ plan includes a controversial provision that gradually phases out independent owner-operators and requires that drayage be performed with drivers employed by licensed motor carriers — a provision that a federal appeals court earlier this year suggested may be unconstitutional.

Cordero said the new registration process would not end the practice of companies hiring drivers for $10 to $12 an hour.

“Look who’s driving the truck,” Cordero said. “Ultimately, that is the social issue here. Let us not lose sight of who’s driving the truck.”

Three other commissioners, however, said they could not immediately address social issues and believed the new registration process would help the port reach its goal of reducing pollution 80% by 2012.

Cherin said the port currently has 5,500 clean trucks performing drayage — ones that either use alternative fuel or meet 2007 federal emissions standards. The port is on track to meet its emissions reduction goals by early next year, two years ahead of schedule, he said.

Prior to the commissioners’ vote, about 40 individuals spoke during a meeting about the plan.

David Pettit, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, warned that the agreement would not permit the port to ensure that clean trucks were properly maintained in future years.

Pettit said the only grounds the port could suspend a motor carrier was if it found the carrier knowingly provided false information to the drayage truck registry.

However, port spokesman Art Wong said, “The licensed motor carriers agreed to comply with the clean trucks plan in the registration agreement. So, they’re ultimately responsible.”

ATA’s Whalen called Pettit’s claims a “misrepresentation of the facts.” He said the agreement gives Long Beach “all of the control and data that they need to enforce gate access.”

Port of Long Beach officials said they would conduct random on-site truck inspections and were confident they still had all the needed enforcement powers to ensure compliance with the clean trucks plan’s security and safety requirements.