August 27, 2008
EP OnlineThe American Trucking Associations with the support of its Intermodal Motor Carriers Conference filed suit in the U.S. District Court in California challenging the port “Concession Plans” as approved by the cities of Los Angeles and Long Beach and their harbor commissions. The groups filed the suit in late July.

The plans will limit access to the ports to only those trucking companies that have entered into concession contracts approved by the port program administrator.

The concession plans impose a broad range of operational requirements that create a regulatory environment similar to state intrastate economic regulation. The ports have acknowledged that these intrusive regulatory systems will result in far fewer trucking companies being able to service the ports, reducing competition. (more…)

6:56 PM, August 22, 2008
Los Angeles TimesThe angry shouts of nearby demonstrators made it hard to hear Long Beach officials who took to the stage Friday at the opening ceremony of the Clean Trucks Center on Terminal Island.
The center was created for truckers needing help to comply with a landmark $1.6-billion program to rid the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles of old, polluting diesel big rigs. Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster called it a step toward “a cleaner Long Beach of the future.” (more…)

The Associated Press
Article Launched: 08/21/2008 10:27:20 PM PDTLOS ANGELES-A plan to clean up the air around the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach got a boost Thursday when two large members of the trucking association that sued to stop the plan agreed to participate in the program.

The American Trucking Associations filed a federal lawsuit last month against both cities after reviewing a truck replacement plan that would force thousands of independent truckers who work at the port to eventually become employees of trucking companies.

The group, which represents 37,000 trucking companies, had no immediate comment after learning that two Phoenix-based ATA haulers signed onto the program.

Some California trucking companies were upset that any member would sign up for a plan that could put them out of business.

“I’m taken aback,” Michael Lightman, owner of Long Beach-based Great Freight Inc., told the Los Angeles Times. “Now, they are going to out-of-state companies rather than dealing with California trucking businesses that have been hauling cargo in and out of the ports for the past 25 to 30 years.”

Both cities passed plans earlier this year aimed at reducing truck pollution at the nation’s busiest cargo container complex by as much as 80 percent. The plans would require trucks to meet tougher 2007 federal emissions standards by 2012, along with a $35 cargo fee to pay for the newer, cleaner-running trucks.

The ATA has said it does not oppose efforts to clean up the air but is concerned that other measures in the plans violate federal laws by unfairly regulating prices, routes and services.

The haulers that signed onto the program include Swift Transportation Co., which has 37 major terminals in 26 states and Mexico; and Knight Transportation Inc., which has 2008 model trucks on nearly half its fleet.

“These are both well-known, national trucking companies. They are very serious players,” said Paul Bingham, managing director of trade and transportation markets for economic research firm Global Insight.

The Arizona companies said that the letters of intent made sense because both already had customers who moved goods through the ports and had expressed concerns about their ability to get their products delivered promptly.

“We have 1,400 trucks equipped with the newest diesel technology. The ports have a need for clean trucks and we have customers that need that service,” said Kevin Knight, chief executive of Knight Transportation. “I think it’s a good fit.”

09:48 PM PDT on Wednesday, August 6, 2008By JACK KATZANEK
The Press-Enterprise

Proposed state regulations that would reduce harmful pollutants are drawing criticism from Southern California’s trucking and logistics industries and other business interests.

The Legislature passed AB 32, also called the Global Warming Solutions Act, in 2006, and state officials hope to enact some of its measures by November. The goal is to roll back greenhouse gas emissions in California to 1990 levels by 2020.

AB 32 makes the California Air Resources Board responsible for monitoring greenhouse gasses and crafting rules to control them.

The proposed regulations to implement AB 32 would affect anyone who drives a large long-haul truck in California, including trucks from other states. It would assess fines for non-compliance on all levels of the surface-road supply chain, including the distribution centers where trucks are loaded and unloaded. (more…)

Sunday, August 03, 2008
By ERIC APALATEGUI for The ColumbianIn the trucking industry of old - even as recently as a few years ago - the recipe for making money was hauling as much freight as you possibly could as fast as you could.

Today, that’s a recipe for financial ruin, said Bill Gulick recently, when diesel fuel averaged $4.65 per gallon nationally and more in California. Gulick is president of Gulick Trucking Co. in Vancouver and Portland.

“You have to have reasonable fuel mileage in the equation with volume. If you don’t deal with (fuel efficiency), it’s a problem. Either you change or you’re not going to make it.”

Now truckers have a new ally in the push to increase fuel economy. Cascade Sierra Solutions, a two-year-old Oregon-based nonprofit organization, offers fuel-saving and emissions-cutting devices and strategies through low-interest loans (repaid with fuel savings), government grants and tax incentives. CSS recently opened an outreach center next to the Jubitz Travel Center in the Delta Park area of north Portland, where it also will serve Clark County and Southwest Washington truckers. (more…)

American Trucking Association and allies target proposed truck operation mandatesLOS ANGELES - 07/31/08 - Two major trucking industry groups have filed suit in US District Court challenging proposed plans crafted by the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to implement cleaner trucks by forcing drivers to purchase and maintain their own vehicles.

According to media reports, the Virginia-based The American Trucking Associations (ATA) and its affiliate, the Intermodal Motor Carriers Conference (IMCC), are asserting that the proposed “Concession Plans will limit access to the ports to only those trucking companies that have entered into concession contracts approved by the port program administrator.”

The suit also names the Long Beach Harbor Commission as a defendant. (more…)

Friday, July 25, 2008
By: Joan Garrett- Chattenooga Times Free Press
Several years ago, after driving a truck for 25 years, Barry Andersen decided to leave the industry and pursue research - mud flap research.

As a driver he had gotten fed up with the heavy water spray created by some traditional mud flaps. He viewed them as a safety hazard to everyday four-wheel drivers, and so he did something no one else had done: He made a mud flap with holes.

Sales were poor to begin with, but when diesel hit $4 a gallon Mr. Andersen found himself and his new mud flaps in the middle of an industry frenzy over aerodynamics. These porous mud flaps, coined eco-flaps, could improve a trucks fuel efficiency by 1.7 to 4 percent, he said. (more…)

Friday, July 25, 2008By SUNITA SOHRABJI
India-West Staff Reporter

In a move opposed by many small trucking businesses, the California Air Resources Board has proposed new regulations in an effort to curb diesel emissions from trucks.

The agency says it is taking the action to reduce the 9,000 annual deaths attributed to poor air quality in the state. But Indian American truck owners, who make up about one-third of the industry in California, say the regulations, which require costly upgrades and replacements, will force many smaller trucking companies to shut down.

Daljeet Singh, owner-operator of Khalsa Trucking in Bakersfield, Calif., told India-West he would be forced to shut his one-man operation down if forced to replace his 1992 truck.

“It’s going to 100 percent put me out of business. There’s no way I can afford it,” he said. Singh, who has run Khalsa Trucking since 1989 and moves dry freight to Las Vegas and Texas, said he would be forced to drive for someone else, which would be financially difficult for his family, with his two college-going children.

Diesel emissions in California contribute more than 40 percent of the two biggest components of air pollution: particulate matter and oxides of nitrogen, known as Nox. (more…)

WARRENVILLE, Ill., Jul 23, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) —-Truck owners and fleets can reduce fuel usage, lower emissions and comply with new anti-idling laws with the new Fleetrite Auxiliary Power Unit, a retrofit product introduced from Navistar.”A Class 8 truck burns a little more than a gallon of diesel fuel per hour idling, and a long-haul sleeper idles around 2,400 hours per year,” said Ron Sandefur, vice president, aftermarket purchasing and products, Navistar Parts Group. “Figure in the high price of diesel fuel and the result is a lot of wasted money.

“With a Fleetrite APU, truck owners can reduce fuel usage to only 0.3 gallons of fuel per hour while idling, or up to 80 percent less than normal idle, saving fleets and owner-operators up to $8,500 a year and 1,920 gallons of fuel annually per truck,” Sandefur said. (more…)

07/20/2008The 2007 economic analysis of the Clean Trucks Program by economist John Husing showed the federal Transportation Worker Identification Credential is likely to cause between 15 percent and 22 percent of port drivers to leave the business. Some won’t even bother to apply because they already know they can’t pass the mandatory background check.

The study predicted the Clean Trucks Program would add to the exodus. Some independent owners and licensed motor carriers won’t be able to afford new, cleaner-burning trucks, even with lower fleet prices and generous grants from the ports to facilitate a lease/purchase. (more…)