On Monday, June 12, 2017, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia, who oversee America’s largest port complex, announced a pact setting sweeping environmental goals for the ports, including requiring zero emission trucks by 2035. The mayors’ announcement of a second “Clean Truck Program” was silent on who would pay for the new technology.  Since the 2008 Clean Truck Program went into effect, the CA Labor Commissioner has ordered more than $40 million in back pay to port drivers because trucking companies have lured drivers into abusive truck lease schemes and failed to pay them for time worked, resulting in driver strikes disrupting port operations and causing congestion.   Meanwhile, federal and state government agencies and courts have issued over 300 decisions determining port drivers are in fact employees; nevertheless, the ports have thus far refused to ban, suspend, or penalize trucking companies that are breaking U.S. labor laws. These are among the significant labor challenges facing the U.S. logistics industry. SOURCE: Justice for Port Truck Drivers