Post by HardTimeTrucker on Oct 22, 2008 7:44:25 GMT -5
Justice Department Opposes CA Truck Ban
By Art Marroquin, Staff Writer
10/21/2008
The U.S. Justice Department is siding with the American Trucking Associations in its lawsuit against concession plans adopted by the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach as part of the Clean Trucks Program.
The Justice Department agreed with the ATA's claims that the ports are trying to regulate the trucking business by requiring freight haulers to obtain "concession contracts" to access port terminals, according to a legal brief filed late Monday with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The trucking industry was deregulated by the federal government in 1980.
The Justice Department claims that U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder erred in September when she ruled that the ports were exempt from federal pre-emption laws because portions of the concession agreements dealt with safety and security interests.
The federal brief said that some of the ports' concession requirements directly regulate rates, services and routes - matters that can be handled only by the federal government.
On top of that, the Justice Department also questioned a provision by the Port of Los Angeles that requires freight haulers to hire drivers as employees, leading to a gradual ban on independent owner-operator truckers within five years. The Port of Long Beach did not adopt the employee mandate.
"We're very happy that the federal government agrees with our positions, particularly on the issue of whether Judge Snyder failed to find that some of the concession requirements
are not connected to safety issues," said Curtis Whalen, executive director of the ATA's intermodal conference.
The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach launched the $1.6 billion Clean Trucks Program on Oct. 1, when trucks built before 1989 were banned from entering the harbor. Port officials hope to reduce diesel truck emissions by 80 percent by requiring all big rigs to comply with 2007 federal emissions standards within five years.
Officials with both ports have claimed their rights as landowners to impose the program's concession contracts on trucking companies.
Lawyers for the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are reviewing the Justice Department's brief, according to officials. The ports have until Nov. 5 to file their arguments with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
"This is just another unfortunate attempt by the American Trucking Associations to stop a pioneering jobs creation and environmental program that has broad support by both the business and environmental communities here in Los Angeles," Port of Los Angeles executives said in a written statement released late Monday.
"The port is confident that the Court of Appeals will conclude that the District Court appropriately upheld the port's right to continue the Clean Trucks Program."