Port of Los Angeles Reduces Emissions From Trucks Without Needless Concession Requirements

The American Shipper Magazine reported on Nov. 9 that diesel particulate matter emissions at the Port of Los Angeles have decreased by 27 percent since 2005. The Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach have measured port-related emissions reductions since 2005 as part of the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Plan, said the article.

"It's gratifying to see significant emissions reductions in all areas of port-related operations," said Geraldine Knatz, Port of Los Angeles executive director. "The port said that since its Clean Truck Program was implemented on Oct. 1, 2008, the weighted average age of the port's truck fleet decreased from 12.2 years to 6.5 years -- a significant change and reduction in emissions," according to the article.

The Clean Truck Program has reduced emissions at the Port without needless concession requirements pushed for by the Teamsters and their allies in the environmental community. The Port of Los Angeles had required all drayage drivers entering the port be employees of large truck companies, making it easier to unionize the workforce. The requirement that would have destroyed thousands of independent trucking businesses was never implemented because a U.S. District Court of Appeals panel unanimously ruled that it was illegal.

Despite these significant gains in air quality, the Teamsters and their allies in the environmental community are now pressuring Congress to change the federal law that makes the owner-operator ban illegal. Their pursuit of this change shows that their objectives are not about clean air at all.

The Port of Long Beach did not adopt the employee mandate into their Clean Trucks Program. Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster said to the Daily Breeze, "I still don't understand what driver status has to do with clean air. ... It's not our job to do some social experiment. When you depart from just cleaning up the air, then you are subject to delays and problems with the program."