According to the JOC, the Los Angeles-Long Beach's penalty for the use of older trucks expired Sunday, as the ports became the first in the nation to have a fleet comprised totally of 2007 or newer trucks.
Emissions studies show the trucking fleet serving the ports registered a 92 percent reduction in sulfur oxides, 89 percent reduction in diesel particulate matter and a 77 percent reduction in nitrogen oxides compared to 2005, according to the Port of Los Angeles.
The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach introduced the fee of $35 per 20-foot equivalent unit three years ago as part of their clean-truck programs. Under the initiative, the use of drayage trucks that do not meet the federal Environmental Protection Agency emissions standards for 2007 model-year trucks were phased out.
All 11,000 drayage trucks operating in Los Angeles-Long Beach harbor are now 2007 or newer clean-diesel trucks, or trucks that operate with clean alternative fuels such as liquefied natural gas, the ports said.
The clean-truck fee was charged directly to importers and exporters who contracted with motor carriers that operated non-compliant trucks.
Many importers and exporters over the past three years negotiated contracts with motor carriers that include a surcharge designed to compensate the truckers for their investments in new trucks. New, compliant trucks cost about $100,000 each.
The Harbor Trucking Association, which represents motor carriers serving the two ports, reminded cargo interests Tuesday that the surcharges contained in their contracts with trucking companies will remain in effect. The group noted that its members collectively invested about $750 million of private capital over the past three years in the purchase of new trucks.
"While we are pleased to see the ports' tariff-based fee on dirty trucks eliminated, this does not absolve our financial investment in our clean equipment and our need to use a surcharge to help pay off the equipment," said HTA president Fred Johring.
For more information contact Bill Mongelluzzo at [email protected].
Source: JOC
