LOS ANGELES – Clean Truck Coalition, Ability/Tri-Modal Transportation Services Inc. and Yusen Terminals Inc. are this year’s truck fleet recipients of Clean Air Action Plan Air Quality Awards.

The Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach present the awards to local cargo and maritime companies that take extraordinary measures to cut emissions and reduce air pollution near the ports.

Clean Truck Coalition LLC won the award in the “Air Quality Improvement Leadership at the Corporate Level” category. This group of 10 family-owned licensed motor carriers was formed in 2008 as a direct result of the ports’ Clean Air Action Plan and Clean Truck Programs. Clean Truck Coalition created a partnership and “pooling agreement” that required its members to share information to better use their collective truck fleets. Such measures included operating more vehicles at night to reduce traffic congestion and sharing equipment to reduce containerless truck trips back to the ports. The CTC also invested $109 million in new equipment, including nearly 1,000 new diesel and liquefied natural gas trucks, which represent about 11 percent of all new trucks at the San Pedro Bay Port complex.

Ability/Tri-Modal Transportation Services Inc. also won in the “corporate level” category. Ability/Tri-Modal is a privately held trucking, warehousing and distribution company that serves both ports. Over the past two years, the company has replaced its entire fleet of 51 drayage trucks with port-certified clean trucks, resulting in significant emission reductions. 
Ability/Tri-Modal has also been a key participant in port efforts to reduce gate congestion, terminal queue times and truck idling -- all important emission reduction measures.

Yusen Terminals Inc. won its award in the “Innovative Operations that Improve Air Quality” category. A cargo terminal operator at the Port of Los Angeles, Yusen Terminals Inc. (YTI) voluntarily initiated a number of operational improvements to reduce emissions and increase efficiency. The company restructured its terminal traffic flow patterns to reduce the distance that trucks and workers need to travel to complete cargo pickups and drop-offs, and implemented a free-flow operation for all near-dock rail moves. The efforts significantly lessened turn times and truck idling within the terminal.

Nearly one-third of cargo is now loaded directly onto rail cars at the terminal, which eliminates the need for transporting goods to other multi-user rail facilities located outside the port complex. YTI also automated its exit gate procedures to reduce truck queues and idling. Taken together, these measures have meant significantly less emissions and increased efficiency at YTI’s terminal.

“These partners have shown a real commitment to cleaner and greener port operations, going above and beyond what is required,” said Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Geraldine Knatz. “These awards highlight what can be achieved when entities join forces and embrace innovation to better the environment.”

“The Clean Air Action Plan awards are a fantastic way to put a spotlight on the oftentimes unheralded efforts of the goods movement industry to meet and exceed air quality goals, and to invent a better way to cleaner air for everyone,” added Port of Long Beach Executive Director Richard D. Steinke. 

The awards launched shortly after the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach approved the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan in 2006. Port tenants and other organizations that serve the ports are eligible to be nominated. The judging panel includes port staff, as well as representatives from the South Coast Air Quality Management District, California Air Resources Board and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach are the two busiest U.S. seaports, moving $355 billion in trade each year and supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs in Southern California.