Ocean shipping/trucking news: Port of Oakland ban on old, polluting trucks to take effect January 1
Patrick Burnson, Executive Editor -- Logistics Management, 10/15/2009
OAKLAND, Calif. —
OAKLAND-As widely expected, the Oakland Port Commission approved a strict ban on trucks not meeting new emission standards that will take effect on January 1.
Pending a second reading of the proposed ordinance on October 20, full implementation of the truck ban will be mandated, leaving scores of independent owner-operators effectively out of work. While the port's clean-truck program is designed to reduce harbor-generated pollution by phasing out the use of old, polluting trucks, industry analysts have noted that this gives organized labor a foot in door when demand for more vehicles ramps up.
Elsewhere in the state, The California Air Resources Board's (CARB) drayage truck program will provide a softer cushion for truck owners, permitting them use non-compliant vehicles as long as they continue to prepare the proper paperwork while making the transition.
Jon DeCesare, President, WCL Consulting Inc. in Long Beach, Calif. told LM that decisions made by port commissions are subject to political pressure with little shipper input.
"The whole âclean trucks program' is going to take place at all West Coast ports," he said. "But the commissions are not listening to the stakeholders about the disruption it causes."
According to DeCesare, port commissions rely heavily on reports written by academic consultants who have a rudimentary understanding of contemporary supply chain issues.
And because Oakland is moving ahead with more extreme measures than its Pacific Rim rivals, it stands to lose even more market share, he said.
Meanwhile, owner-operators whose vehicles were built before 1994 will be turned away at the port and prohibited from doing business there, as will trucks manufactured between 1994 and 2003 that have not been retrofitted with tailpipe filters.
The move comes at a time when Oakland has fallen from fourth to fifth place in containerized cargo throughput (to Savannah) and when it continues to struggle to attract first inbound calls from mega-vessels in the transpacific trade.
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The decision will probalby have a negative impact on port activites as shippers (1) realize they have no input (2) come to understand they really aren't that important (3) decide to move cargo through other non-west coast ports.
The risk factor for the West Coast Ports is that they are going to drive up costs for consumers, loose revenue and more importantly jobs. Clean air is critical, but there has to be some balance.
William Downey - 2009-21-10 12:04:40 EDT -
Our freight will no longer enter thru the Ports of Oakland or Long Beach. Simple as that.
GJames - 2009-15-10 14:21:01 EDT
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