Bill takes aim at port truck jams. (Up Front).

Container terminal operators at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach could each be fined tens of thousands of dollars per day for keeping truck traffic stalled en route to facility entranceways if controversial legislation is approved.

At the behest of the California Trucking Association, Assemblyman Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, plans to introduce a bill currently being drafted calling for terminals statewide to be fined $250 for every truck that has to wait more than 15 minutes to gain entranceway into a terminal.

Lines of idle trucks often stretch more than a mile from terminals with some waiting up to four hours emitting diesel smog that pollutes the air, proponents of the bill said.

"It's a terrible situation," said Lowenthal. "The ports' terminal operators and truckers have been meeting for many years on this issue and they have not resolved this yet. Now, by introducing a bill, it will force serious discussion."

All revenues generated by the fines would be earmarked for local Air Quality Management Districts, which grant funds to small trucking companies to retrofit their vehicles with particulate traps that reduce diesel emissions.

Terminal operators would be exempt from fines if they keep their gates open 16 hours per day at least five days per week. But either way, the legislation would be costly for terminals -- through fines or the payment of overtime.

The Steamship Association of Southern California, a lobbying group for the terminal operators, vowed to battle the legislation, which it said does not account for poor scheduling by trucking companies that leave dozens of trucks vying for entrance to the terminals at once.

The organization threatened to shut terminal entrances altogether if the bill is passed.

"No facility is going to put up with (fines)," said Jay Winter, the association's executive secretary. "We'll just tell (truckers) they can't get in. We'll tell them...to run around the harbor in circles and try to find a place that's Open."

However, the bill also calls for a $500 for each truck a terminal operator attempts to divert to an off-site location.

An average of 15,000 truck trips are made each day into the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, where the 15 terminals generally operate from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., although many remain open on the weekends.

Trucking companies said that as many as 100 vehicles sit idle for up to four hours trying to gain entrance into a terminal during peak hours of 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.