Court Rejects LA/LB Truck Plan

In a major victory for the harbor trucking industry, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled Friday that at least some of the Los Angeles-Long Beach concession requirements under their clean-truck program violate federal law.

The 9th Circuit remanded the case back to the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles "for an appropriate preliminary injunction."

The appellate court said the district court, in a decision rendered last summer, erred in not granting the American Trucking Associations' request for a preliminary injunction that would have blocked implementation of the concession requirements.

Furthermore, the 9th Circuit demanded expeditious action. "The district court shall proceed as quickly as possible so that ATA will not suffer unnecessary harm from any unconstitutional provisions," the appellate court stated. The judges also said they will not entertain a petition for rehearing.

Of most immediacy, it appears that the Port of Los Angeles can not require that harbor trucking companies by the end of this year must replace 20 percent of their owner-operator drivers with employee drivers.

"That requirement is dead," said Curtis Whalen, executive director of the ATA's intermodal conference. "We are very pleased with this decision," he said.

The Los Angeles-Long Beach clean-truck program seeks to reduce pollution from harbor trucks by 80 percent over the next five years. The trucking industry supports that goal and noted that a number of motor carriers have already introduced into their fleets new clean-diesel or liquefied natural gas vehicles that comply with the ports' strict emission standards.

However, the program also requires that motor carriers sign concession agreements with the ports that govern many aspects of their operations. The 9th Circuit said some of the requirements, such as the employee-driver mandate, financial disclosure statements and truck parking restrictions amount to state or local regulation of interstate trucking. The appellate court said such regulation is clearly preempted by federal law.

The 9th Circuit left to the discretion of the district court whether to enjoin the concession agreements in their entirety or to enjoin only those requirements the appellate judges said are illegal.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach were not immediately available for comment.