Post by HardTimeTrucker on Nov 14, 2008 17:39:10 GMT -5
The JOURNAL of COMMERCE
Los Angeles, Long Beach Delay Clean-Trucks Fee
November 13, 2008
By Bill Mongelluzzo
LONG BEACH, Calif. -- The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will not begin collecting a $35-per-TEU clean-truck fee on Monday as previously announced. It is not certain when importers and exporters will have to begin paying the fee.
Collection of the fee, an integral part of the ports’ clean-trucks program, is being delayed due to concerns raised by the Federal Maritime Commission about the impact of the program on trucking competition and drayage rates in the harbor. PortCheck, the entity that will process the fees, announced the delay late Thursday.
“An agreement filing relating to the ports’ arrangement with PortCheck is still pending with the FMC and the fee collection will be delayed while issues relating to that filing are resolved,” said Bruce Wargo, president of PortCheck.
The FMC, which previously announced its intention to challenge certain provisions of the clean-trucks program in court, is especially concerned about a requirement at the Port of Los Angeles that harbor trucking companies hire drivers as employees. The Teamsters union is pushing that requirement because it will make it easier, and legal, to organize the drivers, most of whom are independent contractors.
Long Beach does not require the use of employee drivers, but the FMC said it is nevertheless concerned about provisions in the Long Beach plan related to assessment of the clean-trucks fee.
The $35-per-TEU fee, to be paid by cargo interests, is crucial to the success of the Los Angeles-Long Beach clean-trucks program, which is designed to reduce truck emissions by 80 percent over the next five years.
Harbor trucking companies must replace some 16,000 trucks with new vehicles that meet the ports’ emission standards. Because harbor drayage companies operate on thin margins, the ports agreed to subsidize up to 80 percent of the cost of a new truck, which can be $100,000 for a clean-diesel truck and close to $200,000 for a truck powered by liquefied natural gas.
Revenue from the clean-trucks fee will be used to fund the subsidy program and could total more than $1.6 billion over the next five years.
The ports and marine terminal operators applied to the FMC for antitrust immunity in order to establish PortCheck and to discuss fees. The commission granted the antitrust immunity, but expressed concern about possible anti-competitive aspects of the clean-trucks program concession requirements. To operate in the harbor, trucking companies must obtain a concession from the ports.
“The terminal operators and ports continue to work with the FMC to resolve remaining questions about the program,” Wargo said. “The new start date for fee collection is not yet clear.”
This is the second time the start date for fee collection has been delayed. The ports had intended to begin collecting the fee on Oct. 1, but then pushed the date back to Nov. 17.
Wargo said most of the terminals in the harbor have the hardware and software needed to process trucks as they enter the terminal gates and determine which shipments will be assessed the fee.
Cargo interests will establish an account with PortCheck so the process can be handled electronically. More than 18,000 importers, exporters, forwarders, customs brokers, cargo consolidators, trucking companies and ocean carriers have registered with PortCheck, Wargo said.
Los Angeles, Long Beach Delay Clean-Trucks Fee
November 13, 2008
By Bill Mongelluzzo
LONG BEACH, Calif. -- The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will not begin collecting a $35-per-TEU clean-truck fee on Monday as previously announced. It is not certain when importers and exporters will have to begin paying the fee.
Collection of the fee, an integral part of the ports’ clean-trucks program, is being delayed due to concerns raised by the Federal Maritime Commission about the impact of the program on trucking competition and drayage rates in the harbor. PortCheck, the entity that will process the fees, announced the delay late Thursday.
“An agreement filing relating to the ports’ arrangement with PortCheck is still pending with the FMC and the fee collection will be delayed while issues relating to that filing are resolved,” said Bruce Wargo, president of PortCheck.
The FMC, which previously announced its intention to challenge certain provisions of the clean-trucks program in court, is especially concerned about a requirement at the Port of Los Angeles that harbor trucking companies hire drivers as employees. The Teamsters union is pushing that requirement because it will make it easier, and legal, to organize the drivers, most of whom are independent contractors.
Long Beach does not require the use of employee drivers, but the FMC said it is nevertheless concerned about provisions in the Long Beach plan related to assessment of the clean-trucks fee.
The $35-per-TEU fee, to be paid by cargo interests, is crucial to the success of the Los Angeles-Long Beach clean-trucks program, which is designed to reduce truck emissions by 80 percent over the next five years.
Harbor trucking companies must replace some 16,000 trucks with new vehicles that meet the ports’ emission standards. Because harbor drayage companies operate on thin margins, the ports agreed to subsidize up to 80 percent of the cost of a new truck, which can be $100,000 for a clean-diesel truck and close to $200,000 for a truck powered by liquefied natural gas.
Revenue from the clean-trucks fee will be used to fund the subsidy program and could total more than $1.6 billion over the next five years.
The ports and marine terminal operators applied to the FMC for antitrust immunity in order to establish PortCheck and to discuss fees. The commission granted the antitrust immunity, but expressed concern about possible anti-competitive aspects of the clean-trucks program concession requirements. To operate in the harbor, trucking companies must obtain a concession from the ports.
“The terminal operators and ports continue to work with the FMC to resolve remaining questions about the program,” Wargo said. “The new start date for fee collection is not yet clear.”
This is the second time the start date for fee collection has been delayed. The ports had intended to begin collecting the fee on Oct. 1, but then pushed the date back to Nov. 17.
Wargo said most of the terminals in the harbor have the hardware and software needed to process trucks as they enter the terminal gates and determine which shipments will be assessed the fee.
Cargo interests will establish an account with PortCheck so the process can be handled electronically. More than 18,000 importers, exporters, forwarders, customs brokers, cargo consolidators, trucking companies and ocean carriers have registered with PortCheck, Wargo said.