Post by HardTimeTrucker on Nov 19, 2009 17:54:01 GMT -5
Truckers can thank the Change-to-Win/Teamster Green coalition for this. It's sickening what has been done to the owner-operator trucker over this clean truck scam. Beware everyone they are trying to do this all over the country by using Congress to change transportation laws allowing every port to also enforce the employee mandate along with the CTP!!!
Port of Oakland: diesel truck filter grants gone; deadline looms
Published Wednesday, November 18, 2009,
by the Oakland Tribune
No more money, no extensions for Port of Oakland haulers
By Cecily Burt
Oakland Tribune
Hope turned to anger and desperation Monday night after more than 100 truckers crowded into a jammed meeting room at the Port of Oakland. They were wishing for a miracle but left after hearing the worst: There is no more money to help them pay for diesel truck filters, and there will be no extension to the Jan. 1 deadline to comply with strict new air quality regulations.
That was grim news for about 1,000 independent drivers who handle about a third of the trucks hauling cargo into and out of the port. They could be out of a job Jan. 1 because they cannot afford to replace their old rigs with expensive new ones or spend as much as $21,000 for a truck filter that is only good for four years.
There was a $22 million pot to help truckers with $50,000 grants toward the purchase of new trucks, as well as grants to buy and install new diesel filters for their rigs at about $14,000 to $21,000 each.
The money paid for about 191 new truck grants and more than 800 filter retrofits, more than 600 of which are still to be installed.
But the fund has run dry, leaving about 1,000 drivers in limbo unless they can scrape together money or get a loan to buy the trucks or filters themselves, which is what regulators recommend.
Trucks older than 1994 model years are banned from the port. Trucks manufactured from 1994 to 2003 that are not outfitted with new filters that reduce at least 85 percent of dangerous emissions also are banned.
The truckers can continue to haul cargo on roadways outside the ports.
Cynthia Marvin, assistant division chief with the state Air Resources Board, said the state pushed early emissions deadlines for trucks serving California ports because studies show that residents who live nearby, such as those in West Oakland, have much higher rates of cancer and asthma.
As a result, drivers of noncompliant trucks could be fined as much as $1,000 to $10,000 if they break the rules and get caught hauling cargo in or out of the port. But that is exactly what many said they will have to do to pay their bills and feed their families.
"We're not saying (throw out the regulations), but why not extend the deadline?" said Simon Sibhatu, of Oakland. "You gave wrong information to the drivers. "...
Why do you keep the squeezing these guys?"
The drivers demanded to know why they were told there would be money to help them, only to receive letters telling them the money was gone.
Yemen Derer, of San Leandro, said he heard there was no money left for new trucks, so he borrowed money to buy a 2000 model year truck and applied for a filter grant, which he didn't get.
"I paid $21,000 (for the truck). I didn't have it; I borrowed it," he said. "I already got a loan for $21,000. How can I get another loan to pay for the filter?"
Representatives from the state Air Resources Board told the crowd that drivers who qualified for a new truck grant and who meet a Dec. 4 deadline to complete a purchase order will be allowed into the port after Jan. 1, but no others will receive that courtesy, and regulators promised to police the entrances and catch
scofflaws.
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District oversaw the grant program and in May set up shop at the OT-411 Trucker Information Center at the port. Every day lines of truckers filed in to fill out applications and provide needed information.
The district accepted grant applications until Sept. 10, even though there was little hope that the applicants would receive funding.
Mamdoh Ibrahim, of Alameda, applied in June for two filter grants for his trucks, model years 2000 and 2002. He visited the OT-411 Center several times in the following weeks to provide information. He got project numbers from the air district, and by mid-August he was nervously optimistic that everything would
fall into place.
He had good reason to be nervous.
"They asked me to bring in more information, and they kept putting me off. Then I got a letter," he said. "Unfortunately, we don't have any voice. They just play with us, and we're struggling to survive.
"If they give us an extension for one year we'll pull it together and do it ourselves and not rely on the government."
Reach Cecily Burt at 510-208-6441.
Port of Oakland: diesel truck filter grants gone; deadline looms
Published Wednesday, November 18, 2009,
by the Oakland Tribune
No more money, no extensions for Port of Oakland haulers
By Cecily Burt
Oakland Tribune
Hope turned to anger and desperation Monday night after more than 100 truckers crowded into a jammed meeting room at the Port of Oakland. They were wishing for a miracle but left after hearing the worst: There is no more money to help them pay for diesel truck filters, and there will be no extension to the Jan. 1 deadline to comply with strict new air quality regulations.
That was grim news for about 1,000 independent drivers who handle about a third of the trucks hauling cargo into and out of the port. They could be out of a job Jan. 1 because they cannot afford to replace their old rigs with expensive new ones or spend as much as $21,000 for a truck filter that is only good for four years.
There was a $22 million pot to help truckers with $50,000 grants toward the purchase of new trucks, as well as grants to buy and install new diesel filters for their rigs at about $14,000 to $21,000 each.
The money paid for about 191 new truck grants and more than 800 filter retrofits, more than 600 of which are still to be installed.
But the fund has run dry, leaving about 1,000 drivers in limbo unless they can scrape together money or get a loan to buy the trucks or filters themselves, which is what regulators recommend.
Trucks older than 1994 model years are banned from the port. Trucks manufactured from 1994 to 2003 that are not outfitted with new filters that reduce at least 85 percent of dangerous emissions also are banned.
The truckers can continue to haul cargo on roadways outside the ports.
Cynthia Marvin, assistant division chief with the state Air Resources Board, said the state pushed early emissions deadlines for trucks serving California ports because studies show that residents who live nearby, such as those in West Oakland, have much higher rates of cancer and asthma.
As a result, drivers of noncompliant trucks could be fined as much as $1,000 to $10,000 if they break the rules and get caught hauling cargo in or out of the port. But that is exactly what many said they will have to do to pay their bills and feed their families.
"We're not saying (throw out the regulations), but why not extend the deadline?" said Simon Sibhatu, of Oakland. "You gave wrong information to the drivers. "...
Why do you keep the squeezing these guys?"
The drivers demanded to know why they were told there would be money to help them, only to receive letters telling them the money was gone.
Yemen Derer, of San Leandro, said he heard there was no money left for new trucks, so he borrowed money to buy a 2000 model year truck and applied for a filter grant, which he didn't get.
"I paid $21,000 (for the truck). I didn't have it; I borrowed it," he said. "I already got a loan for $21,000. How can I get another loan to pay for the filter?"
Representatives from the state Air Resources Board told the crowd that drivers who qualified for a new truck grant and who meet a Dec. 4 deadline to complete a purchase order will be allowed into the port after Jan. 1, but no others will receive that courtesy, and regulators promised to police the entrances and catch
scofflaws.
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District oversaw the grant program and in May set up shop at the OT-411 Trucker Information Center at the port. Every day lines of truckers filed in to fill out applications and provide needed information.
The district accepted grant applications until Sept. 10, even though there was little hope that the applicants would receive funding.
Mamdoh Ibrahim, of Alameda, applied in June for two filter grants for his trucks, model years 2000 and 2002. He visited the OT-411 Center several times in the following weeks to provide information. He got project numbers from the air district, and by mid-August he was nervously optimistic that everything would
fall into place.
He had good reason to be nervous.
"They asked me to bring in more information, and they kept putting me off. Then I got a letter," he said. "Unfortunately, we don't have any voice. They just play with us, and we're struggling to survive.
"If they give us an extension for one year we'll pull it together and do it ourselves and not rely on the government."
Reach Cecily Burt at 510-208-6441.
