New Jersey truckers tell port where to stick their stickers

THE American Trucking Associations (ATA) have told a federal regulatory agency that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) has no authority to have a programme that would use stickers to identify trucks that comply its clean-air scheme.

The ATA told the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) that federal law precludes state and local authorities from requiring trucks to display decals or stickers not authorised by the US Transportation Department, reported Newark's Journal of Commerce.

The PANYNJ changed the rules on October 1 and demanded trucks entering port terminals to display a sticker showing compliance to their demand that they are powered by engines built after 1993.

But PANYNJ relented after an outcry, making the sticker scheme "voluntary", saying trucks without stickers would no longer be denied access. But truckers seek a declaratory ruling on whether stickers are legal because statements from the PANYNJ indicate voluntary stickers would expedite access, thus implying discrimination against those trucks that don't have them. The FMCSA will accept interventions until January 3.

"The 'voluntary' credential proposed by the [port] authority should not be allowed, because it implicitly threatens carriers who do not use it with burdens and in practice makes a voluntary sticker a mandatory one," the ATA said in its filing.
(Source:www.schednet.com)