Truckers protest outside LA City Hall over Environmental Policy

This morning over 80 trucks surrounded Los Angeles City Hall honking their horns from their trucks in protest of California’s state clean-air guidelines laws that will become effective January 1, 2010. The state’s clean-air guidelines ban all pre-1994 trucks, as well as 1994-2003 rigs that don’t have diesel particulate filters. At 8 a.m. this morning the 80 truck drivers met at the Port of Long Beach, drove to downtown on the 10 freeway, and circled around downtown until 11 a.m.

Since many truckers are already financially suffering, they are infuriated by the clean-air guidelines. The approximate cost to replace a pre-1994 truck with a new clean truck is $100,000, while the necessary diesel particulate filters cost approximately $20,000. It is estimated that over 5,000 truckers will lose their jobs after the implementation of the clean-air guidelines. The majority of the truckers who will lose their jobs are working-class immigrants from Central America and Mexico.

The Clean Trucks Initiative, which was introduced in October 2008 held trucking companies that entered cargo terminable accountable for following local and state emission requirements. Since the passage of the Clean Trucks Initiative toxic emissions have been reduced by approximately 70 percent in the notoriously known diesel alley corridor, which is located in south Los Angeles County.