Appeals Court Rejects LA Port Ban On Indie Haulers
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A federal appeals court Monday rejected a plan by the Port of Los Angeles to ban owner-operator big rig drivers and replace them with employee drivers, a key point in a trucking industry group's lawsuit against provisions of the port's clean trucks program.
In its 2-1 ruling, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a 2010 decision by U.S. District Judge Christina A. Snyder that determined the port should be allowed to enforce the employee driver
mandate.
The American Trucking Associations sued the L.A. port -- part of the largest port complex in the United States along with the neighboring Port of Long Beach -- in 2008, arguing that hauling companies should not be required to
hire drivers as direct employees because it would stop independent owner-operators from working the harbor.
ATA President and CEO Bill Graves hailed the appellate decision as a victory for the trucking industry and consumers.
"By striking down the port's unjustified ban on owner-operators, the court has upheld the rights of trucking companies to structure their businesses to maximize efficiency and productivity," Graves said.
The appeals panel also upheld several regulatory port requirements relating to truck parking, financial capability, maintenance and placard requirements.
Geraldine Knatz, the port's executive director, said those measures "allow for significant accountability from the trucking companies that call at the Port of Los Angeles."
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the overturning of the employee-driver provision "hurts the long-term sustainability of the Clean Truck Program."
"While we are deeply disappointed in the employee driver ruling, other components of today's decision keep us on a path of green growth by ensuring that trucking companies that contract with the Port of Los Angeles are required
to maintain a clean trucking fleet," the mayor said.
