In advance of the state’s Presidential Primary on February 5th and the preceding debate being held in Los Angeles; front-running candidates Sen.’s Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have each sent letters to Long Beach, Los Angeles and Oakland mayors supporting a Clean Trucks Program to improve the environment, economy and port security.
The letters, made available Friday to the Long Beach Press-Telegram addressed to Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums and port authorities in each city, reveal growing national interest in applying some regulations on the trucking industry nearly 28 years after federal law effectively de-regulated motor carriers, which led to wage and benefit declines throughout the industry.
The hotly debated “Clean Trucks” proposal, would restrict marine terminal access to trucking companies with the cleanest fleets and operated by employee drivers.
“If we allow deadly diesel pollution to kill vulnerable residents of our port communities, and stand by while trade-related jobs pay poverty wages, we will have failed as stewards of the American economy,” Clinton writes in a letter dated Dec. 13, 2007.
Obama, who says many port truckers are economically exploited, has introduced federal legislation that closes legal loopholes used by some employers to misclassify their workers as independent contractors.
“Many of these truckers may be legally misclassified,” said Obama, “Workers misclassification is an issue I have worked on at the federal level to remedy because it hurts workers and costs the taxpayer billions in uncollected taxes.”
Currently, most cargo containing valuable merchandise is handled by contract drivers paid by the load and responsible for vehicle ownership, maintenance, fuel, insurance and other costs.
Economic studies show these drivers earn an average $11 per hour after expenses and are financially unable to afford the newer, less-polluting trucks port authorities have mandated must serve the harbor within five years.
The diesel pollution issue first gained widespread attention in the late 1990s, when local air quality regulators identified a “diesel death zone” near port communities attributed to heavy pollution from trucks serving the waterfront.
In December, Long Beach and Los Angeles port officials jointly adopted a program that incrementally bans, by 2012, all diesel trucks not meeting federal 2007 emission standards. The ban begins Oct. 1, when all pre-1989 rigs are barred.
Port authorities in Long Beach and Los Angeles introduced the employee proviso in April, but have delayed implementation in the face of legal threats from retailers, motor carriers and ocean shippers.
Long Beach Harbor Board President Mario Cordero told the Press-Telegram the letters indicate the issue of port trucking, security and the environment have moved beyond local seaports.
“This signifies the national issue that port trucking, the environment and the economic system that created this situation have become,” Cordero said. “And the fact is, other ports across the country are waiting and seeing how we address the issue before they act to solve similar problems.”
Obama and Clinton both indicated they would support the program at the federal level if it were adopted.
“Adopting the Clean Trucks Program will make it possible to ensure that the pollution these trucks are creating and the low compensation truckers receive are reversed,” Obama said. “Both steps are necessary to meet emissions reductions targets and ensure that jobs at our ports are middle class.”
This is more evidence that the Feb. 5th Presidential Primary is elevating local state issues and forcing candidates to cater to them.
Plus, it may greatly influence port authority decision-makers to do the right thing by cleaning up the air in port communities and doing its part to ensure shippers and retailers are sharing their revenue in the form of good jobs for hard-working Californian truckers who drive our economy.