Post by HardTimeTrucker on Feb 5, 2010 21:54:25 GMT -5
Trade Groups Turn to DOT on Harbor Truck Regs
Bill Mongelluzzo
Feb 4, 2010
The Journal of Commerce
Amending preemption law would hurt U.S. competitiveness, groups tell LaHood
Retailers and other trade groups appealed for support Thursday from the U.S. Department of Transportation in their case against turning regulation of harbor trucking over to local port authorities.
Amending federal preemption law to make it easier for unions to organize harbor truck drivers would hurt interstate commerce and U.S. competitiveness, the groups said in a letter to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
The letter from 36 industry organizations led by the National Retail Federation, said amending the federal preemption as codified in the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act is a union-organizing effort “under the guise of clean trucks initiatives.”
Allowing individual ports to regulate harbor trucking would result in a patchwork of regulations that interfere with the free flow of interstate commerce, the groups said.
Environmental organizations and the Teamsters union are pressing for the change, and the Port of Los Angeles has led a coalition of ports calling for the local control.
The issue is tied to clean-air efforts because those ports say amending federal preemption law would clarify their authority to implement clean-trucks programs that ban old, polluting trucks from their harbors. The amendment would give ports an exemption from federal preemption over motor carrier pricing and services so the ports could regulate harbor trucking in matters relating to safety, security and the environment.
The letter charged that proposed restrictions on harbor trucking as contained in the Los Angeles clean-trucks plan “are specifically designed to eliminate competition from small independent businesses in favor of companies that the Teamsters believe could be more easily organized.”
Harbor trucking nationwide is dominated by smaller trucking companies that contract with owner-operators. By law, unions are prohibited from organizing independent contractors, but they are free to attempt to organize companies with direct employees.
The Port of Los Angeles clean-trucks program would phase out owner-operators from the harbor and replace them with motor carriers with employee drivers. The American Trucking Associations challenged that plan in a lawsuit, and preliminary court rulings in California at the district and appellate levels have confirmed federal preemption authority over motor carrier pricing and services.
Furthermore, Los Angeles and neighboring Long Beach since Oct. 1, 2008, have banned older trucks from their marine terminals without an exemption from the federal preemption act, and the two ports already have reduced truck pollution by 80 percent, the letter noted.
“The argument that port trucking services should not be subject to federal preemption in order to improve air quality is fallacious and is based on motives unrelated to achieving cleaner air around the ports,” the letter said.
Bill Mongelluzzo
Feb 4, 2010
The Journal of Commerce
Amending preemption law would hurt U.S. competitiveness, groups tell LaHood
Retailers and other trade groups appealed for support Thursday from the U.S. Department of Transportation in their case against turning regulation of harbor trucking over to local port authorities.
Amending federal preemption law to make it easier for unions to organize harbor truck drivers would hurt interstate commerce and U.S. competitiveness, the groups said in a letter to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
The letter from 36 industry organizations led by the National Retail Federation, said amending the federal preemption as codified in the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act is a union-organizing effort “under the guise of clean trucks initiatives.”
Allowing individual ports to regulate harbor trucking would result in a patchwork of regulations that interfere with the free flow of interstate commerce, the groups said.
Environmental organizations and the Teamsters union are pressing for the change, and the Port of Los Angeles has led a coalition of ports calling for the local control.
The issue is tied to clean-air efforts because those ports say amending federal preemption law would clarify their authority to implement clean-trucks programs that ban old, polluting trucks from their harbors. The amendment would give ports an exemption from federal preemption over motor carrier pricing and services so the ports could regulate harbor trucking in matters relating to safety, security and the environment.
The letter charged that proposed restrictions on harbor trucking as contained in the Los Angeles clean-trucks plan “are specifically designed to eliminate competition from small independent businesses in favor of companies that the Teamsters believe could be more easily organized.”
Harbor trucking nationwide is dominated by smaller trucking companies that contract with owner-operators. By law, unions are prohibited from organizing independent contractors, but they are free to attempt to organize companies with direct employees.
The Port of Los Angeles clean-trucks program would phase out owner-operators from the harbor and replace them with motor carriers with employee drivers. The American Trucking Associations challenged that plan in a lawsuit, and preliminary court rulings in California at the district and appellate levels have confirmed federal preemption authority over motor carrier pricing and services.
Furthermore, Los Angeles and neighboring Long Beach since Oct. 1, 2008, have banned older trucks from their marine terminals without an exemption from the federal preemption act, and the two ports already have reduced truck pollution by 80 percent, the letter noted.
“The argument that port trucking services should not be subject to federal preemption in order to improve air quality is fallacious and is based on motives unrelated to achieving cleaner air around the ports,” the letter said.