AgTC satisfied with PNW ports clean truck plans

AgTC satisfied with PNW ports clean truck plans    The Agriculture Transportation Coalition has lauded the proposed clean truck plans of the ports of Tacoma and Seattle, and said they offer a pointed contrast to similar plans in Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Friedmann

   'The Port of Tacoma's proposed program, as explained to us thus far, appears to meet the criteria that the AgTC has set for clean truck programs — they must effectively reduce emissions without imposing fees, costs and other burdens on agriculture and forest products exporters that would threaten their competitiveness,' AgTC Executive Director Peter Friedmann wrote in letters to the two ports last week.
   In the letter, Friedmann said the strong points of the plan are that:
   ' It has no new container or other fees to be assessed on the shipper.
   ' It doesn't favor company-owned/employee driver drayage over owner-operator drayage.
   '    Qualifying drayage operators will be determined based solely on whether the age of the truck complies with the established age restrictions.
   ' The ports are assisting with the retrofitting, scrapping and other initiatives to assist truckers in meeting the emissions standards and truck age retirement schedule.
   'It appears from the outlines of the proposed clean truck program to be considered by (the ports), that the (ports are) approaching the task in a reasonable manner, sensitive to the needs of the shippers, including the members of the AgTC,' Friedmann wrote. 'This is particularly true in comparison to the clean truck programs being implemented (or attempted) at other West Coast ports — fortunately the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has enjoined the implementation of the most egregious components of the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach clean truck programs.'