NIT League criticizes L.A.-Long Beach clean truck plan

NIT League criticizes L.A.-Long Beach clean truck plan The National Industrial Transportation League, representing shippers and transportation providers, declared its strong opposition Thursday to a clean-air plan by the Port of Los Angeles-Long Beach to restrict truck access to companies that use less-polluting engines.
   The ports propose to implement new fees on trucking companies that don’t comply with vehicle emission standards and eventually limit the number of companies operating in the ports to those that use employee drivers rather than contracting with independent drivers. The ports argue that individual truck drivers cannot afford to upgrade their equipment even though the port will help subsidize purchase of newer trucks.
   “While the league is in support of the plan’s stated goals and objectives of fostering a clean environment, we believe that it will unnecessarily increase costs, reduce competition, threaten vital operating capacity and most importantly will have a minimal effect toward improving the environment,” the NIT League said in a letter to both port directors.
   Peter Gatti, the NIT League’s executive vice president, wrote that organization is particularly concerned about the driver employment requirement because it would have a “negative impact on small and medium size companies currently performing services at the ports, and could drive a number of such companies out of business.”
   He also complained that the clean air plan by the San Pedro Bay ports was developed without industry input and thorough analysis of its impact.
   The NIT League instead proposed the ports use of economic incentives to achieve the same goal of replacing older, dirty trucks.
   Regardless of the approach, it said, “it is critical that a comprehensive analysis of the economic impact of the Clean Air Action Plan be conducted before additional, and potentially unnecessary, costs are imposed on industry.”
   Other groups, such as the Agriculture Transportation Coalition, have also come out against the ports truck regulation plan.