October 31, 2008

Cunningham Report Quickie: PortCheck To Be Phased In Over 2 Weeks, Fees Start Nov. 17

Terminals operators enforcing the clean truck fee for the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles are expected to do so according to a schedule confirmed this morning by PortCheck, the nonprofit organization of terminal operators that will handle collection of the fee on the ports' behalf.

The fee and the PortCheck system for collecting it are due to be phased in over the next two weeks, with collection due to begin Nov. 17 at 7 a.m. The goal is to duplicate the smooth transition of the progressive ban that started Oct. 1 with pre-1989 trucks.

The fee applies to all port drayage trucks with 2006 or older engines. It also applies to some models with 2007 U.S. EPA emissions compliant engines, depending on when they were purchased, whether ports funds were used, the type of fuel the trucks runs on, and whether a pre-2007 truck was scrapped.

Phase-in of the fee is planned as follows:

• Starting Monday, Nov. 3, fliers will go out to trucks without radio frequency identification tags alerting them they have one week to obtain their RFID tags. The fliers will be part of a larger outreach campaign by the ports and PortCheck to alert truckers, licensed motor carriers and cargo owners that fee is about to begin.
• Also Monday, Nov. 3, PortCheck will allow cargo owners to begin navigating its web site to claim containers without a fee so they can get used to the system.
• Monday, Nov. 10, the electronic gate reader system for PortCheck will go live. Container terminal operators will turn away trucks without RFID tags.
• Thursday, Nov. 13, cargo owners may begin paying the fee - $35 for 20-foot and shorter containers and $70 for longer containers - to ensure drivers will be able to collect their cargo.
• Monday, Nov. 17 at 7 a.m., the fee is due to start.

PortCheck is starting the payment process before Nov. 17 to avoid a rush on the system that morning. Cargo owners who pay in advance and collect their cargo before 7 a.m. Nov. 17 will receive a credit.

About 27,000 RFID tags have been distributed to date, according to Bruce Wargo, president and chief executive officer of PierPASS, which manages the OffPeak traffic mitigation program launched more than three years ago. That number includes RFID tags in use, those that have been lost, those that have been destroyed and some that are sitting unused. Wargo estimates the unused tags at about 6,000. They include tags obtained by operators who are waiting until the requirement kicks in to put them on the trucks.

The fee is expected to generate about $1 million a day to pay for the ports' clean truck incentive programs. That it did not start Oct. 1 as originally planned represents a significant loss. But port officials say their priority is to introduce the fee without disrupting the flow of cargo. In the interim, they have been testing the PortCheck and Drayage Truck Registry systems to make all components are ready to go.

— The Cunningham Report