LA Port bans owner-ops; but not if ATA has anything to say

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Harbor Commission last week voted to ban owner-operators as part of an effort to reduce pollution at the port.

The Clean Truck Program Drayage Services Concession Agreement sets up a process to transition to a Licensed Motor Carrier-based truck concession program beginning October 1 of this year.

The program requires drayage providers at the port to commit to using 100-percent employee drivers by calendar year 2013 in a phased-in schedule. This way, the port will be able to hold those companies accountable for maintaining trucks and employing properly credentialed drivers.

According to the Long Beach Press-Telegram, more than 85 percent of the 17,000 short-haul trucks operating at the twin port complex are independent drivers, who earn about $11 to $12 per hour after expenses.

If the Port of LA gets its way, the drayage carriers that work
the port will have to switch to an all-employee driver pool.

 "The approval of the Concession Agreement marks a major milestone in creating an efficient, reliable short-haul trucking system that will produce rapid improvements in air quality while supporting the Port’s long-term business and security-related goals," said Los Angeles Harbor commission President S. David Freeman in a press release.

The American Trucking Associations has said it will sue to block the plan because of the ban on independent truckers.

The Port of Los Angeles is working with the neighboring Port of Long Beach to reduce port-related truck pollution by an estimated 80 percent. The Long Beach plan, however, has similar clean-truck and anti-emissions requirements, but has chosen not to restrict the use independent contractor drivers.