“Citizen’s arrest! Citizen’s arrest!”
OK, so the New York City Citizens Air Complaint Program isn’t turning a bunch of Gomer Pyle and Barney Fife types loose to arrest truckers for idling. But the program, which collects complaints from residents of the city, is meeting substantial pushback.
The Citizens Air Complaint Program allows individuals to report trucks that have idled between one and three minutes. Complaints can result in a reward for the citizen reporting the offense.
The Trucking Association of New York, which represents the state’s trucking industry, hosted a rally to call attention to how this punitive program “kneecaps our industry, harms our logistics systems and fails to consider the myriad steps the industry has taken and continues to take to move to zero emissions,” according to an association news release.
“This program is punitive, not reformative, by encouraging freelance ‘bounty hunters’ to target trucking companies without introducing long-term solutions to prevent idling or protect the cleaner, more efficient trucks that are currently on the road,” said Kendra Hems, president of the Trucking Association of New York. “The city should work on collaborating with the trucking industry to create truly effective solutions that will both support our hardworking truck drivers and improve air quality, while incentivizing continued investments in zero- and near-zero-emission vehicles.”
How it works
Residents of New York City may report vehicles idling between one and three minutes. They can lodge their complaints either by calling 311 or visiting the NYC.gov website. To sweeten the deal and encourage participation, residents who lodge complaints are eligible to receive up to a 25% commission on each reported violation.
Residents who participate in the program must register with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection. Once registered, they are free to report perceived violations.
The website portal where complaints are submitted directs residents to determine:
- Whether bus/van capacity is 15 passengers or less
- Whether the bus/van was unloading or loading passengers at the time of the complaint
- Whether the truck/van was involved in an activity “classified as a process,” which encompasses refrigerated trailers, cement trucks, etc. that must idle as part of the job
Residents are asked to provide the company name, license plate, location, etc. of each offense reported. The website claims that the city will respond to complaints in 10 business days or less.
Why the program doesn’t work
The Trucking Association of New York held a rally on the steps of New York City Hall on Wednesday, Sept. 18, calling out the shortcomings and problems with the program.
At the center of the association’s complaints is that the program sidesteps due process.
“Trucking companies believe the ill-conceived Citizens Air Complaint Program infringes on their right to due process. Fleets are not notified of the complaint until months after it is filed, and several additional months pass until a hearing is scheduled,” the association news release states. “Respondents are unable to view submitted videos before the hearing, and vehicle owners can’t transfer liability when using contractors or lessees. This inexcusably hamstrings the industry by limiting companies’ ability to effectively defend themselves, discouraging the delivering of essential goods across the five boroughs.”
And, about that 10-day period where residents are contacted about their idling complaints?
Zach Miller, Trucking Association of New York director of metro region operations, testified before the New York City Council on Environmental Protection, Resiliency and Waterfronts oversight hearing, which followed the group’s rally at New York City Hall.
“On average, complaints arrive nine months after the violation was issued, and the hearing is scheduled another nine months or so after that. This severely impacts fleets’ and drivers’ ability to prepare a defense,” Miller told the committee. “By this time, the driver may no longer be with the company, may not be able to recall the events of the day, or the customer that was being serviced may no longer be in operation. None of this is speculation; these are real-world situations given to us by our members.”
“I recently saw a ticket issued to the wrong fleet. The fleet tried for months to explain this to (The Department of Environmental Protection) with no response. Finally, on the hearing date, the video clearly showed a vehicle belonging to a different company … In every other enforcement program from parking tickets, camera tickets, (weigh-in-motion) tickets, etc., there is a built-in mechanism to transfer liability, which does not exist here.”
What’s next?
The New York City Council on Environmental Protection, Resiliency and Waterfronts is considering changes – unwelcome changes for truckers – to the program.
Among the changes proposed for the program are increasing civil penalties for exceeding the idling restriction, tweaking elements of the program such as response times to those lodging complaints and attempting to mandate that hearings for motor carriers be held less than 90 days after a complaint is lodged.
Legislation remains in committee at this time. LL
Check out more trucking news from the state of New York.
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