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Golden State Clients:

 

There’s been a lot of press on this subject, and many of you have asked what you can do to help bring sanity to this chaos.  Let me first give you a little history on what I’ve been doing.

 

  1. I am involved in 3 to 5 meeting per week on this issue.  California Trucking Association (CTA) has been active on this, and Harbor Truckers for a Sustainable Future (HTFSF) has been very active in evaluating the issues, giving feedback to the harbor commissions and other that will listen.
  2. I’ve been to both Harbor Commissioner’s meetings to give public comments about the impact the act would have on our business model, and our industry.
  3. I’ve written to all levels of government to let them know how this will impact various parts of our economy.
  4. I’ve taken a leadership role in trying to get other trucking companies involved in making a change in this plan.
  5. We’ve made sure that our harbor trucking entity is 100% in compliance with all local, state, and federal laws and requirements, cooperating fully with all the auditing agencies, such as DMV, CHP, and FMCSA.  (You can check our compliance level, or that of any trucker here: http://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/SafeStat/CarrierOverview.asp?DOT=1130136 )  We feel any trucking company that runs outside the law, asks drivers to handle cargo illegally (if that’s being done), and doesn’t pay drivers for excessive waiting time, etc should not be our competitors.  Please make sure you are only using carriers that are above this threshold! (like us!!)

 

The Ports’ plan, as written (http://www.portoflosangeles.org/environment_air.htm ) and specifically the truck program, (http://www.portoflosangeles.org/News/news_041207ctp_fact.pdf ) would have significant impacts on the way drayage is handled in this harbor, and will set the pace for other ports throughout the United States to handle their Clean Air Compliance similarly.  While we at Golden State mirror the industry’s support of clean air, and a truck retirement and/or retrofit plan, we believe that it can be done without changing the business model.  The current plan requires all truckers to comply with requirements that supersede federal and state statutes, which has heretofore been illegal, and to replace all owner operators with employee drivers, among other requirements. 

 

Here’s the current schedule of what’s coming next:

 

Tuesday, September 4, 2007.  John Husing’s economic impact report is due to be submitted to the port.

Wednesday September 5, 2007.  The Ports are hosting a “stakeholder” meeting to review the report.

Friday September 21, 2007.  The Ports have reserved a large room at a hotel near the POLA building for a joint POLA/POLB commission meeting (open to the public) supposedly to announce their revised (and final?) Clean Air Action Plan.

 

What you can do is:

 

  1. Write letters to the politicians and appointees that are involved in this decision.  You may use one of the following templates, putting it on your letterhead, changing it to fit your situation, and sign it and send or fax it in.  Here’s a list of the offices and phone numbers of most of those involved:  http://www.caltrux.org/downloads/port_related/public/links/portalertcontacts.pdf .  CTA would like to receive a copy of any letter you write, so please also email them to nbenson@caltrux.org.   
    1. a.     Letters for business owners
    2. b.    Click here for sample letter regarding job loss impact
    3. c.     Click here for sample letter regarding the statewide economic impact
    4. d.    Click here for sample letter challenging the legality

 

  1.  Attend and speak at Harbor Commission meetings, and at City Counsel meetings.  Public comments (3 minutes maximum) are welcomed at each meeting.  Ask the security officer at the entrance how to fill out a speakers card.
    1. The Port of Long Beach have a meeting each Monday at 1 pm at the Port of LB administration building.  The next meeting is 9/10.
    2. The Port of LA meets every other week alternating between the Port of LA administration building and Banning Landing.  Their meetings are on Thursday, and here’s the link to the list of meetings: http://www.portoflosangeles.org/commission.htm
    3. The Long Beach City Counsel meet each Tuesday Evening at 5 pm at the Council Chamber, 333 W. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach, CA.  http://www.ci.long-beach.ca.us/cals/council.asp
    4. The City of Los Angeles Counsel meets Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 10 am.  http://www.lacity.org/council.htm.
  2. Get petitions signed opposing the plan as written.  These can be any interested party, whether driver, employee, family, friend, or whoever opposes the plan as written.  Here’s the petition:  http://www.harbortruckersfsf.org/trucleair/flash/PetitionSignatures_00000.pdf  Fax it to the HTFSF at (562)436-6074.

 

As always, we appreciate your business, and will keep forwarding you information as this develops.

 

Fred Johring

Golden State Express

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310-667-5210

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