ATA appeals case against SoCal truck program in hands of judges

 A Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals case seeking to block portions of the Southern California ports?trucking re-regulation program is now in the hands of the appellate panel, though a decision is not expected before the end of the year.

   The American Trucking Associations, which represent more than 37,000 tucking firms throughout the nation, filed the final paperwork for the case on Friday, reiterating the major points of their case against the ports?truck program.

   The ATA argues that the truck program, officially kicked off by port of Long Beach and Los Angeles officials on Oct. 1, violates federal interstate commerce laws.

   Specifically, the ATA maintains in its 77-page filing that a lower District Court judge, in a September ruling against the ATA and other groups seeking to block the truck program from going into affect, based her decisions on errors of law and committed reversible error?in ruling that the ATA failed to demonstrate a probability of success on the merits of the filing.

   The ATA and other groups that have signed on in support, including the U.S. Justice and Transportation departments, also allege that the ports truck program has caused and will continue to cause ATA members to suffer constitutionally cognizable irreparable harm without an injunction.

   The ATA has asked the appeals court to reverse the lower court decision and remand the case back to the lower court judge with new instructions on where the lower court erred.

   The ports have argued, successfully in both the lower court and in an initial emergency injunction request before the Ninth Circuit, that the truck program is exempt from federal preemption and that the plaintiffs have not shown any harm from the truck program.

   The more than $2 billion truck program is seeking to replace nearly 19,000 frequently calling drayage trucks at the ports with 2007 or newer model year vehicles through loans, grants and incentives to trucking firms.

   The ports and proponents of the truck program have also argued that the environmental benefits of the program, namely the reduction of ports-generated diesel emissions from trucks, outweigh the potential increases in transportation costs.

   A full lawsuit against the truck program by the ATA is also moving through the lower court, but does not involve the Ninth Circuit. The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission is also seeking an injunction against portions of the truck program in a District of Columbia Circuit Court. 

Source: American Shipper