Truckers Get a Hearing on Their Port Problems

A California lawmaker vowed Friday to improve working conditions for truckers hauling freight from Southern California’s busy seaports, saying drivers were being treated like day laborers outside a Home Depot.

At a legislative committee hearing in Wilmington, state Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Sun Valley) said he would push legislation -- vetoed in September by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger -- that would prevent Southern California shipping terminals from barring drivers or charging them late fees if they were unable to get through waiting lines before terminal gates closed for the night.

“We have an incredible labor pool that is forced to sit and wait outside the gates of these ports and idle, and it’s idling our economy and hurting our environment,” Alarcon told an audience composed largely of union longshore workers and Teamsters and independent truckers.

The joint hearing by the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations and the Assembly Labor and Employment committees was held near the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Alarcon, who chairs the Senate committee, was sounding what is likely to be a recurring refrain in his mayoral challenge of incumbent James K. Hahn over who is better positioned to rein in pollution and congestion at the Los Angeles port.

As of late November, the Los Angeles and Long Beach harbors -- the world’s largest port complex -- had surpassed the record number of shipping containers handled in 2003. But the boom’s side effects have included unprecedented congestion on Southern California railroads and freeways, and increasing pollution.

The cargo surge has meant long waits by independent owner-operators, many of whom drive older trucks with higher levels of diesel emissions.

“This is the diesel death zone,” said Noel Park, president of the San Pedro Peninsula Homeowners Coalition. “We are appalled at what is happening down here.”

The holiday shipping season brought near-gridlock at the ports. Although the congestion has eased somewhat, shipping experts predict a 12% to 14% increase in port business for 2005.

Several truck drivers testified that they were forced to wait for hours to pick up shipping containers. Some said they had sought work away from the ports because they were able to deliver only one container a day, compared with a previous daily pace of about four.

“The system is crippling my ability to make a good income,” said Ableon Zerfiel, 44, an independent trucker who lives in Oakland. “We are left with almost nothing at the end of the year.”

Alarcon’s bill was opposed by the Pacific Merchants Shipping Assn., which represents the ocean carriers and marine terminals that handle about 85% of West Coast container traffic. And association President John R. McLaurin said his group probably would oppose the bill again.

McLaurin said the association was trying to reduce port congestion by hiring thousands of longshore workers, extending terminal hours beginning in March and encouraging companies to shift to off-peak hours.

Paul Koretz (D-West Hollywood), chairman of the Assembly labor committee, asked whether terminal operators were concerned that drivers were working 11-to-13-hour days for as little as $20,000 a year.

“Absolutely, they are concerned. Everyone in the supply chain has been through a pretty difficult year,” McLaurin said. “Things are slowly improving.”

But that’s not good enough, Alarcon said.

“The truckers are bearing the brunt of this,” he said, “and are absorbing the cost of these delays.”