Posted on 07/19/2011 10:43:16 PM PDT by SmithL
OAKLAND -- To the accompaniment of big rig cabs driving through downtown and honking their horns Tuesday afternoon, a handful of protesters gathered outside City Hall to say truckers are being unfairly treated despite their progress in reducing emissions.
New state rules that took effect Jan. 1 required truckers hauling at California ports to either install expensive filters (estimated by protesters at $15,000 to $25,000 per vehicle) or upgrade their trucks to models from 2004 or newer.
After speaking to a small crowd of onlookers outside City Hall, AB Trucking President Bill Aboudi said in an interview that a UC Berkeley study recently found the truckers who service the Port of Oakland had made the retrofits, reducing emissions by 50 percent.
Now, said Kathy Fitzgerald, of Oakland-based Fitzgerald Truck Sales Inc., the 4,700 independent truckers who service the port are faced with a new ultimatum from the California Air Resources Board: to buy new trucks, 2008 or newer, by 2014.
"Many of those retrofits were done with grants of public money," Fitzgerald said. "This just doesn't make good sense."
Members of the California Air Resources Board were not immediately available for comment.
California Air Resources Board - should be called the “airheads” for short.
Fascists, are fascists. They always want to “share” control of industry with the real owners rather than take it over outright like other socialists. That way they always still have someone to point at and give the finger when one of their own schemes goes wrong. They also get lots and lots of donations from industry because everyone is so afraid of losing their remaining money and investment. Eugenics, the State redefining marriage, the State deciding which racial group is the preferred group, and the State demanding that the Jooooz cease to be evil capitalist pigs and murderers of children. Anyone who can't see that the democrat party in this country is nothing but a clone of the pre-WWII German Nazi party is working really hard to ignore reality. Even people who argue that the democrat fascists weren't warlike have to ignore Libya and all the other little things Barry is doing to help his Moozlim fellow fascists.
truckers need to boycott hauling goods in CA- it would ruin the economy in days
Trucking companies should teach the city and if necessary a lesson on trucks. Everything they use, consume, or sell, depends upon trucks. Shut the city down and refuse to haul into the city and if necessary the state. Within three days the city would feel the pinch. Within a week the citizens would be demanding resignations in their city and state government.
Exactly. One week and this BS would end. It would cost each trucker far less than the $25K retrofit.
Oh, that would be great! I have great respect for truckers and the garbage man and I’m not being a joker. I have no respect for bureaucrats.
There was a recent thread about businesses fleeing California, including commie lib owners.
This is the global warming AB32 law Arnold was so hot to sign. Thanks Gov. Pervert. Thanks a lot.
CARB will begin the true bankrupting of California. Mary Nichols, head of CARB, is a Van Jones type Commie Commissar.
I hate this communist state. CARB will finish us off with AB32.
You’ve convinced me. Mary Nichols is more Nazi than commie.
I drove a rig back in 84-85. Even back then no one wanted to drive into Cali due too their overzealous regulations.
Don’t worry, they’ll get the Mexican trucks to cover.
Are the drivers union?
Bad enough that, with the widening of the Panama Canal, most ships will be able to bypass California ports entirely and head straight east. But California appears determined to shut its shipping business down anyway.
This emission retrofits were done along the US/Mexico border crossing areas with the US Gov’t even paying for the Mexico trucks to be upgraded. There were a thread or two on this back sometime ago.
The trucking industry needs to do what I did back in 2000. Non of my trucks crossed the border into California for any purpose.
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