A RECENT report on the California ports' clean air programmes from the Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports said the maintenance cost of a 2007-10 model in the first year is US$2,200 rising to $60,000 over a seven year lease, an average pay-out per year of $8,500.

"The Port of Los Angeles has spent to date about $8 million for litigation and more than $265,000 for US Congressional lobbying for the Teamsters-endorsed driver ban," said the American Trucking Association (ATA) website.

The Heavy Duty Trucking magazine report said mandated truck maintenance, which requires using state-approved licensed mechanics to install devices to curtail nitrogen oxide and particle mass emissions, is out of the financial reach of independent truckers.

"This financial obligation is 70 per cent more than what a typical port truck driver paid each year to keep a diesel truck operating, severely reducing the driver's meagre take-home pay," said the report authored by Sejal Patel of the anti-poverty Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, backed by unions and clergy.

The ATA challenge to the Port of Los Angeles continues at US District Court against Teamsters union proposal to ban owner-operators says it would facilitate unionising drivers and would cost the port millions of tax dollars.

Source: shipping online