From Alex Veiga of the Associated Press: “LOS ANGELES — Some days, Wilfredo Jiminez logs almost as much time sitting in his blue tractor-trailer watching TV as he does on the road hauling cargo from the nation’s busiest port complex. But the longer he’s forced to wait his turn to pass through the procedural gauntlet at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the less money he stands to make. [In our patented system, Wilfredo, as a full-time employee, would be spending his idle time with his family … or maybe even on a golf course.]

“The delays, which Jiminez says sometimes drag on for several hours, cut into the port trucker’s ability to earn money, because drivers get paid for every load they move, not for every hour they work as do other port employees. [In our system, Wilfredo, as a full-time employee, would be getting paid for every hour he works … like other port employees.]

“A new program at the twin ports to expand during which truck drivers can retrieve cargo was supposed to ease such delays, but Jiminez says he’s seen little improvement. [“Little” improvement was the most that anyone expected, anyway.]

“The ports’ expanded hours program, dubbed “OffPeak”, was designed to help lessen drivers’ wait times inside the ports and ease traffic congestion on nearby highways by giving shippers a financial incentive to move their cargo during evening and weekend hours when there are fewer vehicles on the road. The port complex now handles 40 percent of all the cargo shipped into the U.S. and 80 percent of U.S. imports from Asia. [“OffPeak” was not designed with the drivers in mind. Trucking interests were not even consulted when the program was being designed.]

“The percentage of cargo during evenings and weekends has increased and has been generally regarded as a sign the program is working, but the persistent delays at some marine terminals could threaten the success of the ambitious initiative, said Robin Lanier, executive director of the Waterfront Coalition, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group that represents retailers, manufacturers and other cargo importers and exporters. [Of course the percentage of cargo during evenings and weekends has increased. There wasn’t any during evenings and weekends to begin with.]

“Lanier said truck drivers have complained about delays during the evening shifts coinciding with scheduled breaks by longshoremen. ‘If they can’t solve the productivity issue within the terminals,’ Lanier said, ‘then the long-term success of the program could be in jeopardy.’ [The “productivity issues within the terminals” can never be solved in conventionally-structured terminals.]

“The drivers who work the L.A.-area ports own their own trucks but often lease them to the trucking companies they work for. They must pay for their own fuel costs, which have hit drivers pretty hard this year. The average price of diesel fuel at the pump in California last week was $ 3.04 a gallon.” [In our patented system, our full-time employee-drivers will not be paying for fuel.]