Port of Vancouver truckers are about to strike over environmental mandate forcing some to buy new trucks

Members of the United Truckers Association voted to strike to protest the Port of Vancouver’s Rolling Truck Aging Program, which will force 360 ​​drivers to buy new vehicles in a bid to cut emissions.

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The United Truckers Association voted Friday to strike against a recent Port of Vancouver directive that prohibits operators from driving vehicles over 12 years old.

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Gagan Singh, a spokesman for the association, said 639 of the 1,000 members voted for the strike, with no votes against.

“I was surprised,” Singh said. “I didn’t expect those numbers.”

Singh said the next step is “to consult with our directors and we will talk to the unions about the date (of labor action), if we consider it.” Meetings are scheduled for Tuesday.

Truckers are upset about the Rolling Truck Age Program, which will start on September 15 and will affect about 20 percent of the 1,800 trucks that transport containers to and from ports in a bid to reduce emissions.

The union has said 360 drivers will need to buy a new or gently used truck, which can cost more than $200,000.

“These costly measures will place an extreme financial burden on container truckers amid the highest rates of inflation and unaffordability in a generation,” Singh told Postmedia in an earlier interview.

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The Rolling Truck Age Program has been on the port’s agenda since 2012. In 2015, the port told drivers the program would go into effect in February 2022.

The goal of the program is to reduce emissions.

However, a month before the program began, federal transport minister Omar Alghabra stepped in and asked the port to consult more with drivers. Alghabra was concerned that the program would hurt Canada’s already fragile supply chain.

In early June, the port announced that the consultation had been completed, some concessions had been made, and the program would go ahead. The port’s decision is supported by the BC Trucking Association.

“Forcing fully paid-up asset truckers to meet all Canadian and BC standards for business operations, in terms of safety levels, emissions, and opacity, is punishing against a group that is predominantly of South Asian origin.” Singh said.

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He also highlighted the growing export of coal from the Port of Vancouver, which he said generates far more emissions than its members’ trucks.

In an earlier interview, Greg Rogge, director of land operations at the port, told Postmedia that UTA members were invited to the consultations but did not participate. He said the port extended the deadline from 10 to 12 years and would allow drivers to continue using their outdated trucks while waiting for a new vehicle to be delivered.

He said the port had no intention of canceling the program.

According to the port’s website, old diesel trucks are a major source of particulate matter in the Vancouver metro region. “We still have some very old container trucks, some over 20 years old, serving the Port of Vancouver,” a fact sheet says.

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The program is intended to support “safer, more reliable trucks and cleaner air for our communities.”

It is expected to significantly reduce air emissions from “port-related trucking activities” in the region, through an estimated 93% decrease in particulate matter, a carcinogenic air pollutant, an 80% decrease in nitrogen oxides, a smog generator. pollutant, and a 2.5% decrease in carbon dioxide.

According to the port, about 80 percent of the trucks serving the port are already compliant.

With files from Lynn Mitges and David Carrigg

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