Commissioners to consider unprecedented measures to help truckers meet clean-air goals The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners will vote on Tuesday, February 19, 2008, on the final elements of a landmark Clean Trucks Program that will modernize the port trucking fleet and slash truck-related air pollution by 80 percent within five years.

The Port of Long Beach Commissioners will consider a staff proposal for a truck concession requirement that will help identify "clean" trucks, ensure reliable short-haul ("drayage") service, and improve air quality, security and safety. Only concession trucks would be allowed to work at the Port of Long Beach.

With the concession requirement, trucking companies would be allowed to use employee drivers, independent contractor drivers or a combination of employee and contractor drivers - as they do now. To obtain a concession, Licensed Motor Carriers (LMCs) would be required to register their drivers and trucks with the Port, and tag their vehicles with radio-frequency identification devices so the Port could monitor compliance. The LMCs would be required to meet clean truck, security, maintenance and health insurance requirements.

The Commissioners will also decide on several other elements of the Clean Trucks Program:

  • A revision of the start date for the collection of the Clean Trucks cargo fee to October 1, 2008, to allow time for distribution of radio-frequency identification tags and reader installation.
  • Linkage of the Clean Trucks $35 per twenty-foot container unit (TEU) cargo fee and the Port's $15 per TEU infrastructure cargo fee. This change will ensure that the dirty trucks are cleaned up before new infrastructure is built with cargo fee dollars.
  • A $2 billion financing plan to aid truckers who wish to obtain port funding to help acquire clean trucks. The Port would offer three options: lease to own; grants for an engine retrofit; and grants for the purchase of clean trucks.
  • An exemption or partial exemption on the Clean Truck cargo fee for cargo owners who use clean trucks acquired without financing from the Port.

"This is truly a milestone program for the Port," said Port Executive Director Richard Steinke. "We've had extensive study and input from the public, experts and multiple stakeholder groups. Now, Port staff is recommending trucking concessions as the fastest and most effective way to meet our critical environmental objectives and provide the accountability we need for clean air, while giving the trucking industry the flexibility to meet its business challenges."

The elements scheduled for a vote February 19 would be the final pieces a sweeping program that has been systematically adopted through several Board votes. In November 2007, the Long Beach and Los Angeles Boards of Harbor Commissioners approved a ban on pre-1989 trucks beginning October 1, 2008. By January 1, 2010, only trucks built after 1993 will be allowed into port shipping terminals, and by January 1, 2012 all trucks must meet 2007 federal emission standards that make new trucks more than 80 percent less polluting than older trucks.

In December 2007, the Commissions approved the cargo fee to accelerate the replacement of the drayage fleet that serves the Port. The fee will end when the fleet of drayage trucks meets Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) requirements in about 2012. The Port will use the funds to help drivers get new cleaner trucks and ensure that the old, polluting trucks will be scrapped and taken out of circulation, rather than continue to work outside the ports.

While the Port does not own or operate the more than 16,000 drayage trucks that serve Port terminals, the Clean Trucks Program will greatly accelerate the reduction of air pollution and public health risks posed by dirty diesel trucks that would otherwise remain on the roadways for many years if not decades.

The Harbor Commission will meet at 1 p.m. Tuesday, February 19, at the Port Administration Building, 925 Harbor Plaza, Long Beach. To vi