How to shift traffic to off hours: higher fees proposed for daytime pickups, deliveries at terminals in Long Beach, Los Angeles.(Ports)

State and local government officials in Southern California have begged, cajoled and threatened the transportation industry to ease daytime truck traffic by handling more pickups and deliveries during off-peak hours.

How successful has the campaign been? Statistics tell the story, and it's not a pretty one. Terminal operators at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach say that last August their gates handled an average of 33,810 truck entrances and exits per day. Of those, an average of 26,400--or 78 percent--occurred during the 8 a.m.-to-5 p.m. gate shift.

A working group named the Regional Goods Movement Efficiency Team, which comprises about 60 representatives of ports, terminals, shipping lines, truckers and governmental agencies, wants to double the number of trucks handled outside regular …