Beijing's battle against pollution takes toll on truck drivers at coal port

A security guard sprays water onto a road near piles of stored coal at the security check in the port of Tianjin, China May 8, 2017. REUTERS/Meng Meng

TIANJIN, China/BEIJING (Reuters) - On a recent visit to the area around Tianjin Port Co Ltd, there were more than one hundred empty trucks parked at the coal storage centre run by Ningdong Logistic Co.

Once one of the busiest places close to Tianjin's sprawling port, the storage facility was now silent as activity had ground to a halt after the port operator last month announced a ban on trucking in coal or storing it there. The announcement was sooner than expected.