Lacking Money for Exhaust Retrofits, Some 1,000 Oakland Port Drivers Face Unemployment

As reported in the Cunningham Report, an estimated 1,000 Oakland port truckers may soon be out of work because they can't afford to retrofit their older rigs with diesel particulate filters required for access to port terminals beginning Jan. 1.

According to the report, the drivers have not received expected grant money from regional air quality regulators to help pay for the exhaust retrofits - which cost $11,000 to $20,000 each.

"More than 100 drivers showed up at a meeting at the Port of Oakland last week to ask for more grant money," Cunningham noted. "The Port of Oakland contributed $5 million toward the $22 million pot of funds that the (Bay Area Air Quality Management District) used for the grants. The drivers also asked for more time to retrofit their rigs. Neither request was granted."

The report kind of underscores the argument being made by the Port of Los Angeles, which is seeking concession deals requiring trucking companies gradually take ownership of the rigs dispatched to its waterfront.

L.A. argues most drivers don't earn enough to properly pay for, maintain and insure new rigs without continual financial assistance, while companies are well-capitalized to handle the burden - now and in the future.

Not surprisingly, the L.A. plan is being sued in federal court, where trucking companies, retailers and shippers - who publicly bash the port as a lackey of organized labor - are arguing that contract drivers, who comprise more than 90 percent of the truck workforce in the harbor, should be permitted to shoulder the expense for new rigs required under the Long Beach-Los Angeles Clean Truck Plan.