A U.S. District Court judge tentatively ruled that the Port of Long Beach’s Clean Trucks Program will be allowed to proceed as planned after being challenged by the American Trucking Association. The ATA sought to halt the port from banning all trucks made before 1988 due to unfair costs unto truck drivers that will be forced to pay out of pocket for new, cleaner trucks. The port instituted the rule, effective October 1, to clean up the area’s air, dirtied by polluting trucks, ships and other port operations.
A story from CunninghamReport.com states that Judge Christine Snyder’s ruling is not final, and a decision will be made sometime this week. Two weeks ago, truck drivers protested a Clean Trucks Program press conference to display their opposition (click here for the story and photos).
The Port of Long Beach issued a press release announcing the decision earlier today.
“Concessions are a key element of our Clean Trucks Program so that we can bring a new generation of clean trucks and clean air to this region, and so we can begin a new era in port security,” said James Hankla, President of the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners, in today’s press release.
“We will move forward on October 1 with our Clean Trucks Program, including a ban on dirty diesel trucks and our Clean Trucks Fee, which were not challenged, so we can help clean the air in Long Beach and the region.”
More information to come as we learn more about today’s ruling. Calls placed to the American Trucking Association were not immediately returned.
By Ryan ZumMallen, Managing Editor