TRUCKERS PROTEST THE CLEAN TRUCK PROGRAM

On Friday, Hundreds of trucks convoyed from the ports of Long Beach, and Los Angeles, to City Hall in downtown L.A.  They slowed traffic on the 710 Freeway.  They circled city hall while honking their horns.

The truckers were protesting the next phase of the year-old Clean Truck Program, a pollution-reduction effort at the ports that bans older trucks, among other rules.  Beginning Jan. 1, trucks built before 1994 will be barred from the ports. Trucks built between 1994 and 2003 will require retrofits to reduce emissions.

The National Port Drivers Association is pushing for an extension of the deadlines, grant funding made available to independent truckers to help pay for retrofits and cleaner trucks, and an investigation of the program. The association also opposes the Port of Los Angeles’ mandate that requires all drivers to be employees of trucking companies by 2013.

All I have to say about this, is I hope that this happens every week for the rest of the year.  I think that these ports are trying to regulate trucking.  Our owner-ops only go into the ports maybe 5, 10, or 15 times a year. They are not contributing to the pollution problem at the port nearly as much as the drivers that go in and out of the ports daily.   Some exceptions need to be considered for owner-ops.  Hopefully protests like this will make some people listen.