Council Action Saves 200 Trucking Jobs

At the Feb. 5 city council meeting, a lengthy debate ensued over whether to force a local truck yard to cease its operations. Shippers Transport Express is a truck yard of roughly 60 acres in the city--the largest truck parking and cargo container storage facility in Carson. It has operated for about 20 years on a lease from Marathon Petroleum, formerly Tesoro, and is estimated to employ up to 250 people.

Unionized workers from the shipping yard testified at the meeting calling it “one of the best trucking jobs there is in L.A. County,” and noting the trucking industry’s role in helping with job training and re-entry jobs.

City staff had recommended terminating all operations by Shippers and requiring a “Retroactive Development Impact Fee” of $900,000. In a letter addressed to the city, Shippers Transport noted the city’s proposed fee was “4 times the annual amount of the previous impact fees.”

Ultimately the council suspended the fines and voted to allow Shippers until August to work with staff to negotiate a compliance fee and next moves. Councilman Jim Dear made the motion, noting “the overriding issue for me is the employment of up to 250 workers,” and calling the risk of those jobs “unacceptable.”