The legal battle continues between the Federal Maritime Commission and the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.  As I wrote about last month (“California and the Trucking Industry“), the ports had planned to collect the Clean Truck Fee starting November 17th ($35 per loaded twenty-foot equivalent unit and smaller; $70 for larger containers), but they delayed implementation due to legal action taken by the Federal Maritime Commission.  Although the legal battle continues, the Port of Long Beach announced this week that it will start collecting the fee staring February 18.  According to the press release, “The Clean Trucks Fee is expected to raise about $1 million a day or about $1 billion over the next few years at both San Pedro Bay ports to help finance the replacement of many of the 17,000 trucks that are a leading source of air pollution in Southern California.”  (I wonder, however, if these financial projections take into account the fact that cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports declined 7.1 percent in 2008.)

In a filing with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the FMC asked for a “preliminary injunction to enjoin…any portion of the Ports’ Concession Program or Clean Trucks Program that (1) requires the use of employee drivers by LMC [Licensed Motor Carriers] concessionaries; or (2) establishes truck purchasing initiatives, subsidies and clean truck fee exemptions that disadvantage Independent Owner Operators (“IOOs”) providing drayage services at the ports.”

The filing goes on to state, “the employee mandate and the discriminatory application of incentives, subsidies and fee exemptions will violate the Shipping Act of 1984…and irreparably harm the public by terminating the ability of IOOs to access private marine terminals in the port area, thus posing an immediate and substantial threat to the drayage industry.”

What’s interesting to me about this legal battle is that it links together “green” regulations and labor issues, two of the key trends I wrote about earlier this week (“Obama and the Logistics Industry“).  Personally, I generally agree with the environmental goals of the Clean Trucks Program, but I’m a bit wary of the Independent Owner Operator restrictions.

This tug-of-war between the FMC and the ports will certainly continue, and although I can’t predict the exact final outcome, I’m sure that shippers, carriers, and logistics service providers will ultimately have to deal with increased costs and new regulations and constraints.  And that’s why all stakeholders should pay attention to what’s happening in California, and provide their input if they are concerned about the final outcome.

Do you think the Clean Trucks Program poses “an immediate and substantial threat to the drayage industry?”  Is this battle a microcosm of what’s to come in Congress as new “green” and labor regulations are introduced?  Post a comment and let me know.