Port Group Rejects Teamster Effort to Amend Federal Transportation Law

The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) will not join efforts by the Ports of Los Angeles (POLA) and Oakland to amend federal transportation law, the Journal of Commerce reported Jan. 27.

"At issue in this debate is an effort by the Ports ... to amend federal preemption authority over interstate commerce to give ports regulatory control over harbor trucking in matters relating to security, congestion and the environment," said JOC.

The Teamsters Union seeks the change in federal law so ports and local jurisdictions can ban owner-operators and make it easier to unionize port truck drivers.

"This labor issue is dividing the port industry ... [and] the AAPA, which represents more than 140 public port authorities, determined it should take a position on the issue that is dividing the industry. Susan Monteverde, AAPA's vice president of government relations, said the issue boiled down to whether ports should be able to regulate the vehicle or the motor carrier," said the magazine.

Port Authorities can regulate the types of trucks that drive into ports. Clean Truck Programs at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach ban trucks with older diesel engines to reduce truck pollution. However, Port Authorities can not regulate the type of drivers that are behind to wheel.

The Port of Los Angeles attempted to require all harbor truck companies to replace independent contractor drivers with employee drivers. The U.S. Court of Appeals determined this requirement violated federal law. Now Los Angeles and its allies are lobbying the federal government to change the law.

According to the Journal of Commerce, since the Port of Long Beach has proven it can reduce truck pollution by about 80 percent 2 years ahead of schedule without banning independent contractors, "AAPA does not believe it is necessary to engage in a costly and controversial effort to amend the law, Monteverde said." A majority of the six-member AAPA Legislative Policy Committee voted not to seek an amendment and that is now the position of the AAPA, Monteverde said.