Post by friendlydocker on Sept 15, 2008 18:41:11 GMT -5
FMC Action Likely Delays Port Truck Program
9/15/2008
Traffic World
The Federal Maritime Commission has taken action that is likely to delay the Oct. 1 start of controversial plans to regulate the port drayage market at Los Angeles and Long Beach.
The commission voted 2-1 Thursday to request additional information from the ports about the working agreement that underpins their clean-trucks programs.
The FMC said it acted "because it has serious concerns about potentially unreasonable increases in transportation costs or decreases in transportation services" under the agreement.
Commissioners Hal Creel and Rebecca Dye voted in favor of the request for additional information. Commissioner Joseph Brennan dissented, saying he "respectfully but strongly" disagreed with his colleagues.
The clean-trucks plans are part of a broader strategy to reduce air pollution in the harbor so that the ports can move forward with two dozen long-delayed infrastructure projects. The clean-truck plans have attracted controversy because they would require drayage companies to obtain operating concessions for harbor service.
Truckers are especially upset at the Los Angeles concessions, which includes a Teamster-backed plan that would require drayage companies to switch from owner-operator to employee drivers during a five-year phase-in period beginning at the end of 2009.
The American Trucking Associations has challenged the ports' plans in federal court, and is appealing a judge's refusal this week to issue a preliminary injunction that would have blocked the plans from taking effect Oct. 1. The ATA contends that by requiring concessions and imposing other requirements on truckers, the ports are engaged in an illegal local effort to regulate interstate commerce.
The FMC's request for more information, taken in the closed portion of the commission's meeting Thursday, could make it impossible for the ports to begin enforcing the concessions rule on Oct. 1.
Under the shipping act, the ports had to file a cooperative working agreement with the FMC before they could discuss provisions of their clean-trucks plan. The FMC allowed the agreement to take effect but said that it would continue to monitor developments. Thursday's action prevents the ports from moving forward with amendments to the agreement that include fees, concession requirements and a ban on trucks built before 1989.
The commission's latest request for information covers dozens of questions and documents. The FMC said it "appreciates the significant environmental and public health benefits" that the clean-trucks plan is expected to produce, and that the FMC "is committed to completing its analysis as quickly as possible upon receipt of the ports' submission of the requested information."
Brennan said in a statement posted on the FMC's Web site that he "believes that the commission is making a monumental mistake in delaying, yet again, the overall environmental plan that the cities of Los Angeles and Long Beach have developed to address serious health concerns and needed port expansion in the region."
He said he voted against the FMC's staff recommendation to request more information because he sees the ports' agreement principally dealing with environmental and labor-management issues, and that "the agency has neither the charge nor the necessary expertise to rule on those issues."
9/15/2008
Traffic World
The Federal Maritime Commission has taken action that is likely to delay the Oct. 1 start of controversial plans to regulate the port drayage market at Los Angeles and Long Beach.
The commission voted 2-1 Thursday to request additional information from the ports about the working agreement that underpins their clean-trucks programs.
The FMC said it acted "because it has serious concerns about potentially unreasonable increases in transportation costs or decreases in transportation services" under the agreement.
Commissioners Hal Creel and Rebecca Dye voted in favor of the request for additional information. Commissioner Joseph Brennan dissented, saying he "respectfully but strongly" disagreed with his colleagues.
The clean-trucks plans are part of a broader strategy to reduce air pollution in the harbor so that the ports can move forward with two dozen long-delayed infrastructure projects. The clean-truck plans have attracted controversy because they would require drayage companies to obtain operating concessions for harbor service.
Truckers are especially upset at the Los Angeles concessions, which includes a Teamster-backed plan that would require drayage companies to switch from owner-operator to employee drivers during a five-year phase-in period beginning at the end of 2009.
The American Trucking Associations has challenged the ports' plans in federal court, and is appealing a judge's refusal this week to issue a preliminary injunction that would have blocked the plans from taking effect Oct. 1. The ATA contends that by requiring concessions and imposing other requirements on truckers, the ports are engaged in an illegal local effort to regulate interstate commerce.
The FMC's request for more information, taken in the closed portion of the commission's meeting Thursday, could make it impossible for the ports to begin enforcing the concessions rule on Oct. 1.
Under the shipping act, the ports had to file a cooperative working agreement with the FMC before they could discuss provisions of their clean-trucks plan. The FMC allowed the agreement to take effect but said that it would continue to monitor developments. Thursday's action prevents the ports from moving forward with amendments to the agreement that include fees, concession requirements and a ban on trucks built before 1989.
The commission's latest request for information covers dozens of questions and documents. The FMC said it "appreciates the significant environmental and public health benefits" that the clean-trucks plan is expected to produce, and that the FMC "is committed to completing its analysis as quickly as possible upon receipt of the ports' submission of the requested information."
Brennan said in a statement posted on the FMC's Web site that he "believes that the commission is making a monumental mistake in delaying, yet again, the overall environmental plan that the cities of Los Angeles and Long Beach have developed to address serious health concerns and needed port expansion in the region."
He said he voted against the FMC's staff recommendation to request more information because he sees the ports' agreement principally dealing with environmental and labor-management issues, and that "the agency has neither the charge nor the necessary expertise to rule on those issues."