November 20, 2009
Why the L.A. Clean Truck Program is Worth Fighting For
By Geraldine Knatz, Ph.D.
Executive Director
The Port of Los Angeles
Just over a year ago, the Port of Los Angeles started the Clean Truck Program (CTP), a groundbreaking initiative designed to take the truck pollution issue head-on, once and for all. Prior to the implementation of the CTP, pollution generated by port-related sources (trucks, trains, ships, etc.) was such an issue that mounting health concerns and legal threats paralyzed port expansion efforts and threatened Southern California’s future viability as the nation’s largest cargo gateway.
As part of the CTP, we are developing long-term business relationships with the hundreds of trucking companies that routinely access port terminals. Through their concession agreements with the Port of Los Angeles, these companies are accountable for operating and maintaining trucks that meet local and state emissions requirements and also for the safety and security performance of their drivers. Our concessionaires represent 700 area trucking companies, 80 percent of which are small businesses with less than 50 trucks. We have concessionaires with as few as one or two individuals.
Now, the Port of Los Angeles is engaged in a lawsuit with the American Trucking Associations (ATA) over our right to have access controls for the thousands of trucks that enter into our cargo terminals each day.
The ATA was successful in getting the court to stop our direct enforcement of the truck replacement program against trucking companies, as well as a requirement that these companies gradually transition over to using employee drivers – a measure that would have made our port more secure and our program more sustainable over the long-term. But the ATA is not stopping there. In fact, the most significant legal fight our port continues to wage with the ATA is over our ability to use concessions, or enforceable agreements, to hold trucking companies responsible for the trucks and drivers they dispatch to our port. Instead, if problems arise with any of these thousands of contracted drivers or their trucks, the ATA wants the port to chase down those individual truckers – an enforcement measure that is neither practical nor realistic.
We argue the opposite position. We believe in creating accountable, self-reliant trucking companies that can continue to operate clean truck fleets for generations to come. And we have already seen the benefits of a program tailored to this goal. So far, the CTP has created a more efficient trucking system. Our roads and facilities aren’t overwhelmed by thousands of independent truckers who drive rates below the true cost of business, cannot afford to purchase and maintain clean trucks -- even with significant public subsidies -- and, as a result, operate dirty trucks at the expense of the community’s health and safety.
Yes, the ATA will extol its support for cleaner truck fleets and cleaner air. And, not surprisingly, it’s not opposed to the tens of millions of dollars in local and federal subsidies and incentives that have helped truck operators purchase clean trucks. The ATA contends that if we have come so far so quickly -- reducing truck emissions by as much as 70 percent since October 2008 -- our mission is accomplished and we should stop arguing for program requirements like concession agreements. But who will pay for the next fleet of clean trucks when today’s new trucks will need to be replaced? It’s too soon to pat ourselves on the back for a job well done.
Our concession program was not set up to replace the present fleet of port trucks and say “mission accomplished!” We didn’t set out to clear the air for one point in time. Our challenge -- and what the ATA fails to acknowledge -- is that emissions standards are a moving target. If that wasn’t the case, perhaps we could wipe our hands, say “we’re done” and move on. But we know that even today’s cleanest trucks will not pass 2020 environmental standards, when mandatory caps will push greenhouse gas emissions back to 1990 levels. Even the next generation of trucks will fall short of those 2020 clean air standards.
As the largest port in the nation and a major economic engine in a region with legacy air quality issues, we need to operate in the “now” and plan for the future. Accordingly, the Port of Los Angeles’ Clean Truck Program wasn’t designed to be a quick win and a one-shot deal, but rather a long-term solution for ensuring that our port trucking system will be environmentally clean, financially self-reliant and continually upgraded. And that’s a goal worth fighting for.
For more information, contact Port of Los Angeles Media Relations at (310) 732-0430.
See related article by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
Huffington Post
Antonio Villaraigosa
Mayor of the City of Los Angeles
Posted: October 1, 2009 08:12 PM
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Clean Trucks: One Year Later
As Congress and world leaders continue to grapple with solutions to address climate change, cities across the United States are endeavoring to find workable solutions to address their specific air pollution challenges.
Los Angeles has long been a leader in this area, and today marks the first anniversary of the launch of one of the most successful emissions reductions programs in our country's history - the Port of Los Angeles' Clean Truck Program.
Partnering local government with businesses, we launched the Clean Truck Program to replace all of the 16,800 trucks entering the Los Angeles port each year with "clean trucks" -- trucks that either meet the Environmental Protection Agency's most recent clean emissions standards or run on alternative fuel. We instituted a Day-One ban on all pre-1989 trucks and infused $44 million in incentive funding into our local port trucking sector to bring thousands of EPA-compliant trucks to our port. These incentives have helped generate over $500 million in private investment in almost 2,500 clean trucks, which account for nearly half of an emerging fleet of more than 5,500 clean trucks currently serving our two local ports.
Our program has been so successful in accelerating the replacement of old, diesel-powered trucks that in May our Harbor Commission approved $23 million in additional incentives for companies purchasing alternative-fueled trucks, specifically, natural gas (LNG and CNG) and a new category of electric-powered, zero-tailpipe emissions big rigs.
This type of cooperation required the support of a broad group of stakeholders ranging from the motor carriers and cargo owners who invested in clean fleets, to the environmental, labor and faith-based communities who shared the common goal of finding a workable solution to air pollution. In other words, all parties involved wanted to find a way to effectively address truck pollution while keeping the cargo moving across our docks.
No seaport had ever attempted such an ambitious program with such an audacious goal of replacing an entire drayage fleet with a clean fleet within five years. With the Clean Truck Program, not only have we achieved most of this fleet replacement within one year, but we have created a system to monitor and ensure truck ownership accountability for thousands of big rigs that move the goods through the Port of Los Angeles.
Today, approximately 66 percent of the trucks that haul cargo containers in and out of our cargo terminals are model-year 2007 or newer. This dramatic fleet turnover has delivered an estimated 70 percent reduction for a program that set its target as an 80 percent emissions reduction by 2012. This emissions reduction is equivalent to removing 200,000 automobiles from our freeways in just 10 months time.
Just as importantly, we've shown that taking dramatic action to curb carbon emissions can be good for economic growth. While new truck sales are down 60 percent nationwide, business at truck dealers near the Port of Los Angeles is up by one-third versus last year thanks to the Clean Truck Program. By any standard, this is a truly remarkable accomplishment.
The emissions reductions made possible by the CTP are also helping the San Pedro Bay Ports move forward on massive "green growth" cargo terminal modernization projects that were paralyzed the first half of this decade due to air quality concerns and related legal threats. As a result, thousands of construction jobs are being generated at a time when our regional economy badly needs them. These projects will pave the way for tens of thousands of permanent jobs at the Port and throughout our regional economy in the decades ahead.
The American Trucking Association has threatened our innovative solutions by getting a court order to temporarily block the City's ability to directly ban a motor carrier from bringing dirty trucks in our Port. We are vigorously fighting to protect the right of cities like Los Angeles to improve environmental and security conditions on our own land and protect the sustainability of our investment in clean trucks over the long term.
At the same time, while defending our groundbreaking program, we need to clear the path to allow local governments the means to achieve federal clean air measures and more secure transportation hubs, acknowledging the need for different regional approaches.
Here in Los Angeles, we are proud to be making an important contribution to the national goal of cleaner air and "greener" energy. We urge lawmakers in Washington to update federal law and allow a first-of-its-kind emissions reduction initiative like the Clean Truck Program to flourish.
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/antonio-villaraigosa/clean-trucks-one-year-lat_b_307158.html
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