LOS ANGELES -- The American Trucking Association lawsuit against the Port of Angeles' "concession requirements" as part of its Clean Truck Program got underway on Tuesday.

While the case took a couple of years to get this far, local attorney Cameron W. Roberts told the Journal of Commerce the case is likely to involve several appeals and could take a few more years before it's finally settled.

Last year, District Judge Christina Snyder granted ATA a preliminary injunction against the concession banning owner-operators from the Port.

At the behest of the Teamsters, the Clean Truck plan would restrict drayage carriers from using non-company and non-union drivers from access to the port. The idea is that the responsibility of owning and maintaining 'clean' trucks would be transfered to better capitalized trucking companies.

The owner-operator ban and other concession requirements are unrelated to the environment or safety, the argues ATA, which does, however, support most of the Clean Truck Program's environmental goals.

"The Port of Los Angeles, which according to news reports could be on the verge of bankruptcy, is nevertheless apparently using taxpayer dollars to fight for the Teamsters proposal to ban owner-operators, which would make unionizing drivers easier," the ATA said on its web site. "The Port of Los Angeles has spent to date about $8 million for litigation and more than $265,000 for U.S. Congressional lobbying for the Teamsters-endorsed driver ban requirement." 

Recently, a new report backed by the Teamsters Union and special interest groups alleges that owner operators' inability to maintain equipment poses a threat to the clean air goals of the Clean Truck Program.

In reaction, the ATA blasted the report, saying it "is not a research report … but just a collection of rhetoric that they have used before to attack owner-operator independent contractors."

ATA spokesman Clayton Boyce said the union's allegation that operators are not equipped intellectually or financially to properly maintain and service clean diesel engines is a "huge insult to thousands of owner-operators."

Clayton also said that union-backed study understates earnings of owner-operators and their ability to pay for maintenance of the truck. In fact, he added, owner-operators with business management skills typically earn a lot more than company employee drivers.

The study, titled "From Clean to Clunker: The Economics of Emissions Control," is sponsored by the Sierra Club, BlueGreen Alliance, LAANE, and the Teamsters.