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Big Trucking Deal

A diverse coalition wins a battle to regulate air pollution at California ports

By Kate Sheppard

Sandwiched between three freeways and the fourth-largest container port in the country lies the neighborhood of West Oakland, Calif. Its residents often choke down the exhaust of the 1,500 diesel trucks that pass through the community on the way to and from the Port of Oakland. On any given day, trucks are parked throughout this working-class, African-American neighborhood, sometimes idling for… return to article

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    Page 1 of 1 pages

    As an ex OTR trucker who has driven in CA., I know that CA has some of the tightest rules on exhaust emissions.
    And the Motor Carrier Deregulation did not turn trucker’s into owner drivers. Many companies, faced with going broke because their old ICC Certificates, which were an asset that could be used as collateral for loans,  became worthless and they “sold” tractor’s for $1 down to drivers. They are owners in name only.
    Hunts Point Market in the Bronx, NY has gone to a system where a driver can rent a window unit to provide Heat or Air Conditioning to the cab, the main reason a truck idles while waiting to load/unload.
    As the trucks in CA already meet emission standards, it would seem that it would make more sense to reduce the idling time of engines, as Hunts Point has done.

    United States Posted by farmer on Apr 16, 2008 at 10:43 AM
    Page 1 of 1 pages

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