RILA Comments on Overturn of LA Port Employee Mandate by 9th Circuit Court of Appeals 

RILA Comments on Overturn of LA Port Employee Mandate by 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Arlington, VA – The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) issued the following statement in response to a decision filed today by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals regarding the Port of Los Angeles employee mandate.

The Appeals Court found that "while the Port may impose conditions on licensed motor carriers seeking to operate on Port property (such as safety or emissions requirements), it cannot extend those conditions to the contractual relationships between motor carriers and third parties."

“While some elements of the court’s decision are a disappointment, RILA welcomes the strong comments from the court overturning the Port of Los Angeles’ attempt to dictate the relationship between shippers and their drayage providers,” said Kelly Kolb, vice president of global supply chain policy. “The ill-conceived employee-mandate would have prohibited thousands of independent-owner operators from operating at the port with no appreciable benefit to the stated goals of the Clean Air Action Plan.

“Today’s decision affirms RILA’s perspective that partnerships that include port stakeholders including shippers, drayage operators and port authorities, are the pathway to achieving the shared goals of reduced emissions and uninterrupted commerce,” concluded Kolb.

RILA is the trade association of the world’s largest and most innovative retail companies. RILA members include more than 200 retailers, product manufacturers, and service suppliers, which together account for more than $1.5 trillion in annual sales, millions of American jobs and operate more than 100,000 stores, manufacturing facilities and distribution centers domestically and abroad.

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