Independent truckers lose opening skirmish in LA court room

FORMER union organiser Antonio Villaraigosa, now the mayor of Los Angeles, has applauded a court refusal to give a summary judgment blocking the port's clean truck programme that bans independent truckers in favour of employee drivers - a measure supported by the Teamsters union.

The American Trucking Associations (ATA) vainly argued before US Court of Appeals judge Christina Snyder that aspects of the LA clean truck programme were not safety-related and duplication of federal rules.

Judge Snyder set April 20 for commencement of the full hearing of ATA plea, reported Newark's Journal of Commerce, adding that the case that will impact many US ports where owner-operators dominate harbour trucking. Environmentalists also back the ban because larger companies have more money to provide better trucks.

Mayor Villaraigosa said the concession agreement with hundreds of trucking companies has helped put more than 6,000 clean trucks on the roads around the port, reducing port truck emissions by at least 70 per cent.

"We are hopeful that the trial court will uphold the full concession agreement to provide full accountability and sustainability of the Clean Truck Programme in the future," he said.

ATA lawyer Robert Digges said he was troubled by a provision in the port's concession agreement that requires independent truckers to be phased out.

LA Port lawyer Steven Rosenthal said larger companies could better maintain their vehicles and safety standard than independents, but ATA lawyer Robert Digges said the connection between owner-operators and unsafe driving was "pure speculation".

Source: www.schednet.com