Retailer J.C. Penney Will Apply Brakes to Diesel Trucks

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Department store chain J.C. Penney Co. Inc. has become the latest corporation to commit to convert its local fleet of diesel trucks to cleaner burning models.

The company joined the Coalition for Responsible Transportation, an industry group that is swapping hundreds of heavily-polluting trucks for cleaner rigs at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports.

J.C. Penney’s transportation provider, Compton-based PDS Trucking Inc., also joined the group, which includes Target Corp., Nike Inc. and several local trucking companies.

“Our commitment to join with others in the industry and invest in the conversion to green trucks reflects our strong belief that the private-sector initiatives supported by CRT provide the most sustainable long-term solution for reducing port-related truck emissions,” said Rick Schart, vice president and director of transportation for J.C. Penney, in a statement.

Most of J.C. Penney’s retail merchandise enters the country through the local ports.

Under the terms of the agreement, the company will convert its trucks by 2010, two years earlier than the deadline the ports recently approved for their own clean air program.

By 2012, the ports will restrict all diesel trucks that do not meet 2007 emission standards.


Airline Grounded

Maxjet Airways Inc.’s tenure in Los Angeles didn’t last long.

In fact, the all-business class airline itself didn’t last long.

Maxjet, which operated flights between London’s Stansted Airport and three U.S. airports including Los Angeles International Airport abruptly halted operations Dec. 24 and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, leaving jets stranded on runways and forcing passengers to find alternate flights.

The company cited fuel costs as a primary factor in the move.

“With today’s fuel prices and the resulting impact on the credit climate for airlines, we are forced to take this drastic measure,” said Chief Executive William Stockbridge in a statement posted on the company’s Web site. “We are extremely saddened to discontinue a service that we so passionately believe in, and we thank our loyal flyers.”

The airline began offering flights in late 2005 and expanded to Los Angeles in August of 2007.

But in October the company canceled service from Washington’s Dulles International Airport and in early December it halted trading of its stock on a submarket of the London Stock Exchange. The moves raised some eyebrows, but the company tried to reassure passengers and investors that the company was not in trouble.

The failure of Maxjet leaves just three trans-Atlantic all-business class airlines Silverjet Travel Inc., Eos Airlines Inc. and l’Avion. None of the airlines currently serve Los Angeles but Eos plans to offer service from LAX in the future.


Trapac Troubles

The first terminal expansion project at the Port of Los Angeles in more than five years is hitting some snags in the early going.

In the month since the Los Angeles Harbor Commission approved a $1.5 billion project to expand and modernize the terminal owned by Wilmington-based Trapac Inc., the port has agreed to pay more than $1 million for delaying the original vote and a group of labor organizations and environmentalists has filed an appeal to block the project from moving forward.

The port had ordered two cranes to be delivered to the Trapac terminal in November in anticipation of the project being approved before then. But the vote was delayed until Dec. 6, leaving Trapac with storage costs totaling $1.1 million until they were finally delivered Dec. 13.

The harbor commission voted to reimburse Trapac the entire cost of storing the cranes.

Meanwhile, labor and environmental groups have filed an appeal with the Los Angeles City Council to block the expansion project, saying it violates the California Environmental Quality Act.

The council has yet to consider the appeal.


Subway Gains Momentum

Just before breaking for the holidays, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill that lifted the 21-year-old ban on tunneling under Wilshire Boulevard, drawing a mix of cheers and groans from local political leaders.

The move gives momentum to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s so-called “Subway to the Sea” proposal a key element of his 2005 campaign that is expected to cost upwards of $5 billion.

Villaraigosa is backed by a number of local leaders, including City Councilmembers Jack Weiss, Tom LaBonge and Bill Rosendahl.

But not everyone is for the subway.

L.A. County Supervisor and Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board Member Michael Antonovich criticized the proposal, which he said could cost $10 billion and would siphon funds away from other transportation projects.

“Funding this $10 billion ‘Subway to the Sea’ will cripple the regional transportation needs of taxpayers in the county’s other 84 cities and unincorporated communities,” he said in a statement.


Staff reporter Richard Clough can be reached at (323) 549-5225, ext. 251, or at

[email protected]

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