Clean Action Air Plan for drayage trucks puts in motion California's zero-emission future by 2035.
March 31, 2023
LONG BEACH – In March 2006, after years of chronic air pollution caused by port-related operations in the communities surrounding the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, both ports jointly announced and implemented a groundbreaking program in conjunction with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) titled the Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP), whose goal is to reduce both ports fair share of key pollutants emitted from transportation sectors such as drayage trucking through CAAP’s Clean Truck Program.
At the time of the Clean Air Action Plan’s implementation in 2006, drayage trucks accounted for 10 percent (188 tons) of all diesel-particulate-matter emissions (DPM), 26 percent (9,264 tons) of nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions, and 1 percent (120 tons) of all sulfur oxide (SOx) emissions. Per CARB, 70 percent of potential cancer risks from toxic air contaminants in California can be attributed to DPM, highlighting the urgency for both ports to reduce their fair share of the contaminants.
Following a 2010 addition that added health risk standards, in 2017 The Clean Truck Program received an update that focused its goal to reduce pollutants with zero-emission or low-emission trucks, with an eventual goal of 100 percent zero-emission trucks by 2035.
Based on the latest air quality report published in 2021 by the Port of Los Angeles, DPM emissions from drayage trucks were reduced by 98 percent (242 tons) compared to 2005 baseline levels, NOx was reduced by 83 percent (5,265 tons), and SOx was reduced by 91 percent (41 tons).
An air quality report for 2022 has not been published by the Port of Los Angeles, however, based on performance from previous years it can be assumed that drayage truck emissions of DPM, NOx, and SOx have reduced as well due to the incorporation of low-emission and zero-emission trucks into the local drayage fleet.
Per CARB, a low-emission truck refers to any fuel-technology combination for drayage trucks that is significantly lower emitting on oxides of nitrogen (NOx) than the federal 2010 emissions standards for on-road heavy-duty engines. This definition includes natural gas-powered trucks, and hybrid truck models that feature an electric drive train with an internal combustion engine.
Accordingly, a zero-emission truck is a vehicle powered by a drivetrain that produces zero exhaust emissions of pollutants under any possible operational modes or conditions per CARB. The two types of zero-emission trucks that satisfy this requirement are battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell electric due to their use of electric drivetrains, with the difference between the two being the technology behind them.
As of January 2023, close to 21,000 trucks were registered in the Port Drayage Truck Registry per the Port of Los Angeles, with 461 trucks using the revolutionary Cummins ISX12N natural gas engine that emits 90 percent fewer pollutant emissions than EPA standards. 63 trucks were zero-emission, with 60 being battery electric and 3 being hydrogen fuel cells.
93 percent of the drayage fleet is still composed of diesel-powered trucks, evidence that wide adoption of low and zero-emission trucks has not yet been achieved.
To assist with the transition to cleaner truck technologies, the 2017 Clean Air Action Plan update included the implementation of the Clean Truck Fund (CTF), which charges beneficial cargo owners $10 per loaded twenty-foot equivalent (TEU) container moved by drayage trucks entering and leaving the terminals beginning April 1, 2022. Containers hauled by zero-emission trucks will receive a lifetime exemption from the CTF fee.
CTF spending plans approved in 2022 by each port’s respective harbor commissions will allocate funds to the Truck Voucher Incentive Program, which will provide zero-emission drayage truck purchase vouchers for at least $150,000 (available until December 31, 2023) to licensed motor carriers in the Port Drayage Truck Registry, with each truck funded obligated to provide drayage service to the San Pedro Bay Port complex for a period of three years.
Voucher incentives for zero-emission trucks are processed through the California HVIP program (Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project) which receives its funding from California Air Resources Board (CARB). Certain drayage trucks are eligible for an additional incentive of 100 percent if powered by fuel cells, such as the Nikola TRE FCEV, bringing their total incentive to at least $240,000 per HVIP.
For the fiscal year 2022-2023, CA HVIP has set aside $146 million for drayage trucks. 70 percent of the funds will be eligible for private fleets with fewer than one hundred vehicles. CA HVIP will release 30 percent of the remaining funding to private fleets with more than one hundred vehicles if more than $100 million remains in the reserve on July 1, 2023.
Drayage carriers and independent contractors should take advantage of available vouchers and incentives while they are still available, especially if funding for future years decreases.
Part 2: The road to zero-emission drayage coming soon.
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