A Comprehensive Solution for an Efficient 21^st Century Port
The federal deregulation of port trucking, like that of the financial sector, has been a calamity visible throughout the industry and in major U.S. metropolitan areas. This chaotic market has brought deadly, dirty air and dead-end jobs to New York and New Jersey and has spiked both public health and poverty statistics to crisis proportions in communities near the port and along goods movement corridors. To streamline operations and remove barriers to job-creating infrastructure and expansion projects, port officials must first set new standards to save lives.

The hard work of environmental and labor coalitions and local officials in other port regions like Southern California and Oakland, have created a new business model for port trucking that recognizes the undeniable link between poverty and pollution. It will help increase industry efficiency and productivity, as well as address the economic struggles of port drivers and the public health and environmental threats facing residents.

Los Angeles Takes the Lead in Fixing the Problem
On October 1, 2008, the Port of Los Angeles was the first in the nation to take bold action to fix the broken port trucking system by implementing the landmark Clean Trucks Program, a sweeping policy to replace dirty diesel trucks with newer, clean-burning models. It requires that all trucks meet and maintain tougher 2007 federal emissions standards by 2012, with the aim of reducing emissions at the nation's busiest cargo container complex by 80 percent.

In less than a year the LA Clean Trucks Program helped measurably reduce toxic emissions by removing 2,000 dirty trucks from the roads and spurring investment to put 5,000 new clean and alternative-fuel trucks into service. Nearly 60 percent of the cargo hauled by truck off waterfront terminals now meet federal 2007 emission standards at a pace years ahead of predictions.

Critical to the long-term success of the program is the requirement that port trucking companies assume ownership and proper maintenance of the green technology fleet, and cease the practice of contracting out to under-paid owner-operators who earn a shade less than $10 an hour. Large and small businesses alike took advantage of powerful financial incentives to spur innovation and transition to an asset-based market, which has leverage over $400 million in private investment and helped to offset a downturn in new truck sales.

The LA plan has earned the support of President Barack Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, the entire California Democratic Congressional delegation and over 100 environmental, community, public health, and labor organizations around the country that support sustainable, green-growth for our environment and our economy. This coalition includes the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Teamsters and the American Lung Association of California, the Ironbound Community Corporation in Newark, the New Jersey Environmental Federation, the Garden State Alliance for a New Economy and GreenFaith to name a few.

Unfortunately the Clean Trucks Program is under attack by the Virginia-based American Trucking Association, which filed a lawsuit to halt the program. Currently the court case is scheduled for December of 2009. In the meantime, environmentalists, community groups, labor unions and faith leaders are advocating for a change in federal law that would allow the Clean Trucks Program to continue in Los Angeles and be implemented at ports around the country.