More praise for Seattle truck plan rolls in

More praise for Seattle truck plan rolls in    The National Retail Federation on Friday praised the Port of Seattle's Clean Truck Plan, saying it provided a business-friendly approach to reducing drayage emissions that is lacking in plans at other ports.
   'The Clean Truck Plan included in the Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy takes the right approach by not including fees and focusing on removing the older trucks which service the port through the rolling ban based on the age of the truck,' NRF said in a letter to Seattle Harbor Commission President Bill Bryant. 'The Clean Truck Plan should continue to focus on replacing the trucks themselves and not the individual who drives the truck. A similar program that has been implemented in marine terminals in Southern California has already replaced over 30 percent of the trucking fleet in favor of equipment that meets or exceeds 2007 U.S. EPA emissions requirements.
   Industry experts expect half of the fleet to be converted by the end of the year. 'The success of this program will greatly contribute to air quality improvements,' NRF said.
   The harbor board is scheduled to receive an update on the plan at its meeting Tuesday.
   NRF said it opposed other plans, including ones proposed by ports in Oakland and Los Angeles to regulate drayage companies by requiring that drivers be employees rather than independent owner-operators.
   'We strongly oppose current efforts by other ports to amend existing federal law to give port authorities and other localities an exemption from longstanding federal truck rules codified in the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act,' the letter said. 'Current federal laws already allow port authorities to move forward with clean truck programs such as those included in the Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy. As noted, we have already seen success with the Clean Truck Plan implemented by the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach without any changes to federal law or controversial driver-related provisions.'
   Praise from the NRF follows similar plaudits from the Agriculture Transportation Coalition, a body that represents agriculture exporters, who earlier in August lauded the plan.