A federal appeals court overturned a lower court’s upholding of the Port of Los Angeles’ ban on owner-operators Sept. 26.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed the federal Central District of California’s ruling that allowed the port’s requirement that only employee drivers regularly could work the port. The American Trucking Associations had appealed the lower court’s decision upholding the port’s concessionaire agreements, which include the progressive ban on owner-operators.

The port responded to the Sept. 26 ruling by posting a statement on its website that it would “refrain from enforcing the employee driver provision.”

Barring independent contractor truckers was the most contentious issue in the associations’ extensive battle with the port, although the ATA did not dispute the progressive ban on older trucks.

Bill Graves, ATA president and CEO, considered the decision a victory.

“This plan was never about clean air, it was about promoting special interests of a few well-connected labor groups,” Graves said. “Successful clean trucks plans in Long Beach, Seattle and the ports of New York and New Jersey have shown you can improve air quality without forcing owner-operators out of your port.”