(The following article by Paul T. Rosynsky was posted on the Oakland Tribune website on October 24.)
OAKLAND — A growing battle over the safety of truck chassis and who should be responsible for their maintenance came to the Port of Oakland on Thursday as two powerful unions blamed steamship owners and marine terminal operators for making the nation’s freeways dangerous.
At issue is the maintenance and liability associated with trailers used to carry the thousands of 40-foot containers that leave the nation’s ports each day.
The unions, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, say those chassis are unsafe and are calling for support of a proposed federal law that would place new regulations on the trailers.
Meanwhile, steamship companies and marine terminal operators say such a law would place undue financial burden on an aspect of their operations that has not been found to be unusually impaired.
Although the battle is being waged by two powerful interests that control the nation’s waterfront, it will have reverberating effects on everyday Americans who drive among the thousands of trucks towing the chassis each day.
The Teamsters focused on those Americans on Thursday as they displayed a faulty chassis and warned of highway carnage if the proposed federal law is not passed.
“I tell my wife not to drive behind or next to one of these chassis, and I work on them,” said Jack Giusto, 61, a 32-year mechanic at the APL terminal in Oakland. “There are a lot of chassis that go out that shouldn’t. In 32 years, I have seen a lot of accidents.”
Even Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown joined the fray, saying he would urge the port to support the proposed law.
“This is a serious … threat,” he said.
Under current federal laws, the responsibility and accompanying liability associated with a chassis falls to the truck driver towing it. The driver is required to inspect the chassis before leaving a port. If a problem is found, the driver must pay any fine levied by a regulator.
But, according to the Teamsters and several ILWU mechanics at Thursday’s press conference, a driver can’t see potential flaws by simply doing a spot check.
As a result, they said, chassis are leaving ports with faulty brakes, cracked support rods and loose wheels that can fly off a trailer at any moment.
“The idea that they would put unsafe chassis on the road is unconscionable,” said Joe Wenzl, an ILWU member. “They need to step up to the plate and take responsibility.”
Although California passed a law last year shifting responsibility and liability of chassis maintenance to the shipping companies, it only covered marine terminals. The limited scope of the law fails to regulate chassis found at railroad yards or those stored at inland locations.
In fighting for the new federal law, the Teamsters say they are trying to bring fairness across the country for independent truckers. By shifting responsibility to the marine terminals and steamship lines, truckers would not lose valuable time and money trying to find a chassis that is safe, they said.
But shipping company officials said the Teamsters are using scare tactics in an effort to unionize independent truckers.
“It is outrageous that the facts are being misstated and sensational claims are being made as part of a national effort to unionize port trucking operations,” said John McLaurin, president of the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association, which represents steamship lines. “It is needlessly and inaccurately creating fear among the motoring public.”
According to McLaurin, shipping companies conduct routine inspections at least twice a year with some doing so four times a year. Rules are in place to forbid faulty chassis from leaving, and any trucker who complains can get a new chassis, he said.
For example, APL, an Oakland-based steamship line, spends more than $32 million a year repairing and inspecting its 51,000 chassis, said Scott Dailey, a company spokesman.
In addition, McLaurin said, there has been no statistical proof chassis are more dangerous or cause more accidents than any other part of a truck, including the driver.
California Highway Patrol Capt. Andy Jones agreed. Jones said fewer than 1 percent of truck accidents in the state are caused by faulty chassis.
“I would have no problem driving in and around those trailers with my family,” said Jones, commander of the CHP’s commercial division. “It has not been our experience that (chassis) have any worse of an inspection record.”
Nevertheless, the Teamsters, various ILWU mechanics who work on the chassis each day, truckers and politicians who support the bill said the highways will not be safe until the new law is passed.
“One day there is going to be an accident and somebody is going to be hurt real bad,” said Stephanie Williams, vice president for the California Trucking Association. “This will put justice where it needs to be.”