HTA’s Loya Listens, Learns as Calif. Drayage Community Reels
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CEO Robert Loya spent much of August on the road meeting the drayage trade group’s members in California and Washington state after his Aug. 5 appointment.
For the , it was an opportunity to maintain his zeal for life-long learning, a passion he tells Transport Topics he sought to pass on to his three children and will do the same for two grandchildren.
Loya said the past month or so taught him how the dynamic between trade associations and members works, and found it was very different to employment at a carrier.
The newly minted trade association chief leaned on his predecessor, Matt Schrap for advice too, building on a relationship developed partly while Loya was HTA board president the past four years.
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Listening to HTA members is important at what is a very difficult time for drayage players on the West Coast, said Loya, who until recently also was board president of the . Loya relinquished the CTA post when he became a full-time HTA executive.
HTA’s key issue in the coming weeks and months is better availability of appointments for drayage carriers, Loya said, noting carriers must work with terminals on the issue. It is a topic that cropped up in every conversation Loya had with an HTA member since he took the position, he said.
After that, Loya is looking to secure greater certainty when it comes to regulation in California.
“Just give us the rules. Let us go play,” was how he looked at it.
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Loya said he hopes to see responsible change in regulation and that carriers just want the opportunity to be able to plan and manage their cost inflation at a time when expenses are increasing and business is stagnating or declining.
Confidence to plan for at least some potential outcomes in a time of unprecedented supply chain upheaval is even more essential as the multiyear freight recession continues.
Port volumes are not going to increase through the end of the current year, Loya said, adding that volumes peaked early in 2025. That outlook means carriers may go under as a result, he said.
The Port of Los Angeles reported its busiest month ever in July. Container volumes rose 8.5% year over year to 1,019,837 20-foot-equivalent units from 939,600.
Port of Oakland saw a 10.1% volume increase year over year to 203,145 containers in July from 184,467, citing importers advancing cargo shipments to beat the onset of proposed tariffs.
Volumes at U.S. marine entry points historically ramp up during the August-October window as shippers prepare for the holiday season.
And Loya knows how difficult conditions already are for drayage carriers. His last day job was as chief operating officer of T.G.S. Logistics, which shut its doors at the end of July after 40 years in business.
Most of T.G.S.’ lanes ran from the ports of Oakland and Los Angeles to the central valley and back.
Drayage Hit By Dual Headwinds
Rate weakness and California’s nascent and upcoming zero-emission tractor requirements took a heavy toll on T.G.S., prompting founder Tim Schneider, son Peter Schneider plus Loya to bring the curtain down on the business.
“It just became really ugly across the board,” Loya said. “I just don’t know if it is sustainable. Unfortunately, I think there will be more carriers going under.”
2025 saw a lack of consistency in volumes due to whiplash surrounding tariffs, and carriers also cut their fleet size due to an excess of capacity after the COVID-era gold rush among opportunistic investors.
The current level of rates hasn’t been seen in at least 10 years, said Loya. Customers are demanding these rates, and carriers are delivering them, he added.
However, “if you are looking for the lowest rates, that’s the service you’re going to get,” he said.
For rates to increase, it will require customers to be loyal to carriers, he warned.
Zero-Emission Trucks
Another factor behind the demise of T.G.S. was the transition to zero-emission tractors in California.
Zero-emission trucks are currently unable to service the lanes T.G.S. focused on, traversing the mountainous 40-mile stretch of Interstate 5 known as the Grapevine to reach agricultural customers.
Battery-electric tractors with longer ranges are on the way from the likes of Tesla and Windrose, but the cost remains extravagant compared with diesel rigs for many carriers.
Still, California regulators remain set on zero-emission trucks — particularly in a drayage sector whose lanes abut some of the more disadvantaged communities in the Golden State — even as Congress and the Trump administration introduce more hurdles to the journey.
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Loya said the and Omnibus NOx rules have merely been kicked down the road after the actions of the federal government and Republicans in Congress.
But California has made it very clear where it is going, with talk of a statewide or port indirect source rule.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District already has a Warehouse Indirect Source Rule.
HTA hopes the will be willing to compromise, Loya told TT.
The transition will, no doubt, have many twists and turns — not unlike the Old Ridge Road that I-5 and the Grapevine replaced.
HTA’s transition to a new CEO has been much more linear, Loya said, noting that it had been more administrative than anything else. Loya said he had learned a lot from Schrap and CTA chief Eric Sauer over the years.
of discusses California's zero-emission challenge: 157,000 chargers needed by 2030 for MHD and HHD BE vehicles, statewide. He notes, "The timelines that the state is trying to implement don't line up with reality." How can California bridge this gap? — California Insider Show (@CA_Insider)
Schrap’s last day at HTA was Aug. 22. After departing HTA, Schrap joined Forum Energy — which develops, owns and operates heavy-duty charging depots and leases electric Class 8 trucks — as chief commercial officer.
Peter Schneider, meanwhile, landed at IMC Logistics, where he will focus on Pacific region strategy, according to a LinkedIn post.
