SoCal ports award drayage registry contract

SoCal ports award drayage registry contract The ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles have selected trucking database firm eModal as the contractor to develop a drayage vehicle registry that is a central component of the two port authorities' $2 billion-plus truck re-regulation plan.
   Labeled the Drayage Truck Registry, the database will be used by the ports to track the current status of frequent and semi-frequent trucks in the local drayage fleet. With less than four months remaining before the Oct. 1 start of the ports' truck plan, the selection of a contractor for the registry moves the plan closer to reality.
   eModal, which already operates truck vehicle databases for drayage at the Southern California ports, plans to modify its current Truck Check product to include additional data required by the two-port registry. The use of an existing product will abbreviate the time needed to get the registry up and running.
   The truck plan seeks to replace or retrofit nearly 17,000 trucks servicing the two neighboring ports over the next four years with vehicles meeting or besting federal 2007 model year emissions. Starting Oct. 1, all pre-1989 model year trucks will be barred from entering the ports as part of the plan. Additional model year groupings will be banned at several milestones through 2013. Trucking firms will be unable to send their vehicles to port facilities unless the vehicles meet the truck plan emission standards and obtain a ports-generated access license. To obtain a license, trucking firms must agree to numerous ports-defined criteria, including registering all vehicles with a Los Angeles-Long Beach registry.
   Both ports have said they hope to start signing up trucking firms by next month, but the registry must be established first. As the Port of Los Angeles said in the request for proposals covering the registry contract, 'Because these (pre-1989) trucks will not be allowed to access the ports' terminals after Sept. 30, there is very limited time to plan and implement this program.'
   Officials from eModal said they hope to have the registry operating by the end of this month.
   eModal's selection comes as no to surprise to many watching the evolution of the Southern California ports truck plan. Already serving as a database provider in the Southern California drayage industry, eModal was believed to be the only serious contender for the contract.
   Financial details of the deal were not released. ' Keith Higginbotham