SoCal truck re-regulation plan supporters to release report on plan

SoCal truck re-regulation plan supporters to release report on plan Two groups partnered with the International Brotherhood of the Teamsters on Thursday will present a self-generated view of the economic impacts of the controversial port truck re-regulation plan being proposed by the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.
   The Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, a social justice group supporting the plan, said the report examines the economic impacts to drivers, communities and taxpayers that would result from the ports' plan.
   The ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles publicly announced the controversial trucking re-regulation plan in April, following six months of preparatory work. The $1.8 billion plan seeks to consolidate the 1,300 port trucking companies into a handful of licensed operators that only hire truck drivers as employees. Licensed trucks would be required to meet 2007 emission standards or pay a fee to enter port terminals. The fee, along with port and state funds, would be used to purchase new trucks or retrofit older models to meet the port-wide standards.
   An American Shipper impact analysis of the plan in July found that despite being envisioned by the cities of Long Beach and Los Angeles to clean the air and empower local drivers, it would eliminate the jobs of nearly 6,150 drivers and more than 1,500 other trucking industry workers within the space of two years.
   In addition, if enacted as currently drafted, the ports' so-called 'Clean Truck Plan' could also result in an additional $6.6 billion in costs being passed along directly to consumers over the plan's first year and upwards of $50 billion over the plan's five-year life.
   Even the plan's original clean air goals are quickly sliding out of reach of the ports, with the plan's current version likely to generate significantly more smog- and ozone-creating pollution than it predicts. To top the ports' problems off, the ultimate result may be the one thing that port officials do not want to see, longer lines of trucks at port facilities and more congestion throughout the system.
   An economic impact report commissioned by the ports is expected to be handed over to port officials on Sept. 1, though sources in the port say that at least portions of the report have already been received.
   Unlike the ports' upcoming economic impact study of the plan, the LAANE report set to be released Thursday is not being conducted by economists familiar with the transportation industry.
   The group will release their report and field questions in a phone and web conference at 11 a.m. Thursday.