Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach Contract Terminal Operators to Collect

                                                             Clean Trucks and Ban Dirty Trucks

The West Coast Marine Terminal Operator Agreement (WCMTOA) has been contracted by the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach to collect the Clean Truck Fees (CTF) required by the ports as part of their Clean Trucks Program.

Underthe ports' staff, terminal operators are required to collect the CTF and enforce the ban on older trucks.  To do this, WCMTOA established a new, not-for-profit company called PortCheck Inc. which will develop the information systems necessary to collect the fee while minimizing impacts to the flow of cargo.  PortCheck will operate similarly to PierPass Inc., which was established by WCMTOA in 2005 to implement the OffPeak program at the San Pedro Bay ports.

PortCheck and the terminal are now working to build the information systems necessary to collect and track the fee payments.  his system will fully automate the process of determining if a truck meets the ports' clean truck requirements and whether the truck will be charged a Clean Trucks Fee.

Companies registered under PierPass will automatically be registered under PortCheck, and the process of claiming containers and paying the $35/TEU CTF will be similar to the OffPeak program's process.  While the PortCheck website is being developed, PortCheck urges cargo owners to register on the PierPass site (www.pierpass-tmf.org), and to familiarize themselves with the process.

Under the ports' program, the beneficial cargo owner (the party named on the bill of lading) is responsible for paying the CTF.  The CTF will payable by credit card or electronic funds transfer, and must be paid before a container can enter or leave the terminal.  Company with strong credit history may be eligible to open a line of credit.

PortCheck will be making available additional information about the CTF payment process at www.portcheck.org.  Information on the Clean Truck program is available at the ports' web site, www.portoflosangeles.org/cleantrucks and www.polb.com/cleantrucks.