SoCal terminal operators call for delay of ports? truck plan

SoCal terminal operators call for delay of portsÆ truck plan

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   Southern California marine terminal operators are expressing uncertainty that the Southern California ports' trucking re-regulation plan can proceed on its scheduled start date of Oct. 1, and have asked Long Beach and Los Angeles port officials to postpone key portions of the plan for at least 60 days.
   In a Sept. 3 letter, members of the West Coast Marine Terminal Operators Agreement told the executive directors of both ports that collection of the truck plan's $35-per-TEU tax and an entry ban on pre-1989 model year trucks is virtually impossible to implement by the ports' program start date.
   The ports' truck plan calls for marine terminal operators at the two ports to act as gatekeepers for the plan, collecting the container tax from beneficial cargo owners and assuring that banned trucks are not permitted access.
   'This is a very complex program with many moving parts,' wrote WCMTOA secretary Bruce Wargo. 'It requires 13 different terminal access control systems to be modified to accept and electronically understand the ports' Drayage Truck Registry information.'
   Under the ports' truck plan, drayage providers wishing to continue providing service to terminals at the ports' must have their trucks entered into the DTR. However, the DTR only went live two weeks ago and the DTR entry Web site continues to have technical problems.
   According to Wargo, the ports' DTR contained no approved trucks as of Sept. 3 and the DTR was not in a 'position to communicate to the (terminal operators) that information.'
   Wargo, who is also chief executive officer of the non-profit PierPass after-hours gate operation at the two ports, said that extensive modification to the terminals' operations systems are still required before the truck plan can begin and other items such as 'terminal and carrier Web pages, phone trees and carrier and terminal customer service representatives,' still need to be updated.
   The DTR also 'will require extensive Internet modifications to PierPass, its vendors systems, equipment acquisition, report design and testing,' he said.
   On Tuesday, a federal court formally denied an injunction against the truck plan sought by the American Trucking Associations, and port officials remain adamant that the plan will move forward on Oct. 1 despite growing concerns within the industry that many of the key components and process details are not ready.
   'We believe that the effective implementation of the program would best be served by delaying implementation of MTO enforcement of truck access standards to Nov. 1, and the collection of Clean Truck Fees to Jan. 1,' Wargo wrote.
   'Attempting to implement a program of this type without adequate preparation, testing and outreach could result in long truck lines at terminal gates, decreased productivity, and dissatisfaction among truckers, ocean carriers, and the shipping public,' he said.    'Obviously, it is in all our interests to avoid such difficulties.' ' Keith Higginbotham