For Immediate Release
May 4, 2004

Oakland, Calif. (May 4, 2004) - Independent truck owners/operators who have been struggling with the rising costs of diesel fuel in California made significant progress today. Representatives of the truckers involved negotiated a proposal with the Port of Oakland that will enable them to have significantly greater input into issues that impact their operations.

Jerry Bridges, the Director of Maritime at the Port of Oakland, announced the formation of a committee to help address the serious economic issues facing the industry as well as other trucking issues in and around the Port of Oakland. The Port has committed to facilitating these committee meetings and working with all parties involved to generate effective solutions.

"The purpose of this committee is to address the needs of truck owners/operators and all parties who depend upon them for the movement of cargo," said Bridges. The Port of Oakland will invite the following parties to sit on the committee: representatives of the truck owners/operators, trucking companies, brokers, ocean carriers, terminal operators, and railroads. Furthermore, the agenda for this committee will be set by the Working Group which will be comprised of representatives of the trucker owners/operators and the Port of Oakland. This Working Group will meet later this week.

Irvinder Dhanda, Delph Jean, and Ruben Lopez, representatives of the truck owners/operators say that they are relieved that someone was willing to step in and help develop a dialogue and a platform for issues resolution. They stated that they are pleased that they were able to convince the Port to provide a forum for us to voice our issues to the right people.

"I've been in the trucking business since 1980. This is the most significant effort that I've seen in years in hearing our issues," said C. Alberto, a trucking company owner.

Today's proposal represents an unprecedented step in addressing the difficult economic obstacles facing the trucking industry. The Port of Oakland is committed to continuing the discussions that will affect future operations of this important industry.

With this proposal from the Port of Oakland, the three representatives of the truck owners/operators said they were confident they could convince others to stop demonstrating and go back to moving cargo. However, if discussions with the Committee prove ineffective, the independent truck owners/operators vow to return to their demonstrations at the Port.

Contact:
Harold P. Jones
Director of Communications
(510) 627-1564
hjones@portoakland.com

Representatives of truck owners/operators:
Irvinder Dhanda (510) 224-7740
Delph Jean (510) 697-3805
Ruben Lopez (510) 557-0976