First, about Seattle: Local authorities are trying to reduce pollution from all kinds of maritime operations. Portworld reports that as of Jan. 1, trucks
...must have model-year 1994 or newer engines, and that all trucks must be registered in the Port's Drayage Truck Registry and display the Green Gateway sticker on the driver's side door.More than 4,000 trucks and nearly 800 trucking companies are registered at the Port of Seattle, Portworld reports.
Los Angeles has had a Clean Trucks program in place since 2008, and things haven't exactly gone smoothly. L.A. recognized that the independent contractors who drive dirty old trucks ("sweatshops on wheels") can't afford to buy new ones. So the Port of L.A. required trucking companies to employ the drivers and take financial responsibility for the trucks. The trucking industry challenged the regulation and now it's tied up in the courts. Drivers are still independent contractors, but they're supposed to buy and maintain the pricey new trucks.
Neon Tommy, a digital newspaper, reported
...truck companies skirt Clean Truck Program rules by sending new trucks to pick up cargo at the port, while their older trucks haul the loads through nearby neighborhoods and along L.A. freeways...
Last month, the California Air Resources Board voted to ban the clean-to-dirty swaps. The new regulation could take effect this summer.
