OAKLAND, Calif. (KCBS)  -- The Port of Oakland is expected to raise the fees currently charged on shipping containers as the first step in a plan to reduce air pollution in the surrounding neighborhood of West Oakland.

The higher fees would be used to help truck drivers purchase cleaner-burning trucks, since a major source of pollution is trucks that sometimes idle for hours waiting to load or unload.

The trucking industry opposes both the fees and calls to hire the self-employed drivers, who as contractors do not accumulate pensions or enjoy health benefits.

Hundreds of Teamsters, environmentalists and religious leaders marched from Oakland City Hall to the Port Monday in support of the plan, which tries to defray the cost of purchasing more environmentally friendly technology that is now shouldered by the truckers themselves.

KCBS's Doug Sovern reports

(jro)