Log Book
18 Overdrive FEBRUARY 2010 LogBook Air pollution from ships, locomotives, trucks and other sourc-es at the Port of Long Beach dropped significantly from 2005 to 2008 including a major drop in diesel particulate matter a new study shows. The biggest part of the improve-ment was due to cleaner technology, not from a slowdown in cargo. The 2008 Air Emissions Inventory reports that while the amount of cargo moving through the port declined by 3 percent in 2008 from 2005, air pollution was cut much more due to efforts to reduce emissions from vessels and vehicles. Overall, it was the port's best air quality report card since the studies began in 2002. Air quality initiatives such as the Clean Trucks Program, which began in October 2008, the expanded Green Flag vessel speed reduction program, the use of low-sulfur fuel for ships, and the first use of shore power for ships at berth all have contributed to significant air improvements at the port. In addition to the 21 percent drop in diesel particulate matter, the 2008 Air Emissions Inventory also showed a 12 percent decline in smog-forming nitrogen oxides and an 18 percent drop in sulfur oxides. Greenhouse gases were cut by 7 percent. Trucks serving the port emitted about 20 percent less pollution overall compared to 2005. Staff reports Port study finds air quality gains Air pollution dropped significantly, including a 21 percent decline in diesel particulate matters, from 2005 to 2008 at the Port of Long Beach. (Continued on page 66) Comments at the first of four public hear-ings of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's review of the hours of service rule ranged from a request to keep the existing rules to urging a rewrite. At the Jan. 19 session in Arlington, Va., David Osiecki, senior vice presi-dent of Policy and Regulatory Affairs at American Trucking Associations, said the hours regulations are based on extensive research and analysis and should be retained. The safety concerns hypothesized by trucking industry critics and those groups opposed to the current rules have simply failed to occur, Osiecki said. In January 2009, in a comprehensive response to these organizations, FMCSA strongly refuted these hypotheses with data and rational explanations. Absent new data, these predictions must contin-ue to be rejected by FMCSA and DOT and should, in no way, be a basis for any proposed changes. Gerald Donaldson, senior research director for Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, said too much driving and work time is permitted under the rules. It is appalling that well into the 21st century we are still using these work-ers as though they were 19th century laborers, he said. Donaldson's group, along with the Teamsters union, Public Citizen and the Truck Safety Coalition, opposes the current rules. LaMont Byrd, director of the Teamsters' Health and Safety depart-ment, said the union is against the part of the rule that allows drivers to restart the work cycle after only 34 hours off duty. The agency issued a rule that favors increasing driver productivity and increasing the profits of motor carriers over driver health and safety, Byrd said. The current rules regarding hours of service, the 34-hour restart provision and the sleeper berth provi-sion must be changed. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association's Rod Nofziger called for more flexibility in the regu-lations. He stated drivers should be allowed to take breaks without the time counting against the daily working hours. He repeated OOIDA's support for compensating drivers for time spent waiting to be loaded or unloaded. To give you an idea of how sig-nificant the detention time problem is: Industry surveys have estimated upwards of 40 hours per truck per week is wasted waiting to be loaded and unloaded, Nofziger said. In fact, as a part of the Motor Carrier Efficiency Study, your agency has identified loading and unloading as the most cited inefficiency in trucking, costing the industry an estimated $3 billion per year and society over $6.5 billion annually, Nofziger noted. Steve Keppler, interim executive director of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, said the current regulations are easy to understand and enforce, which should be considered in any rewrite of the rules. Staff reports Hours regs debated at public session