LA ‘clean truck’ port plan upheld — again

LOS ANGELES — For the second time in a month, a U.S. court has denied a motion by the American Trucking Associations to block a truck certification program at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

A federal appeals court sided with the port authorities and paved the way for the clean trucks program to kick off on Oct. 1, according to the Contra Costa Times.

The ports, though, will not begin charging right away the $35-per-TEU clean truck container fee, which is also part of the program. Officials say the collection system is still not operational.

The ATA supports most aspects of the program — including the phased retirement of older trucks from the port operations and their replacement with newer, cleaner vehicles — but is against the concession agreements rule, which would require drayage companies to hire only company drivers so the ports could better monitor their security risk and equipment.

The ATA argues the rule is unconstitutional and last month filed a lawsuit in federal court. That challenge was dismissed, as was a subsequent appeal on by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Wednesday.

The Ninth Circuit said the industry group "has failed to establish that it will be irreparably injured absent an injunction, or that the public interest lies in favor of granting an injunction."

The ATA may now appeal to the Federal Maritime Commission, which has already expressed concerns over the program.

It’s unclear if the FMC can actually block the port program, however. The agency is determining whether the program violates the Shipping Act, which prohibits ports from giving "unreasonable preferences or imposing any undue or unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage."