Truck drivers will pay for «dirty» trucks in ports

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach began charging diesel trucks entering and leaving ports.

In an effort to encourage drivers to use eco-friendly trucks, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach started charging in and out diesel trucks at $10 per unit.

All proceeds go to the Clean Truck Fund, which will help pay for zero-emission trucks and infrastructure.

Zero-emission trucks like the battery-electric Nikola Tre are exempt from the new California Clean Truck Rate, which charges diesel-powered trucks $10 for every 20-foot-equivalent container hauled into or out of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

The ports plan to collect 45 million each in this way. It is important that the tariff is charged to cargo operators and their agents, and not to the truck drivers.

Recall that in 2017, Garcetti and Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia promised to create a new Clean Trucks Program. According to this program, all trucks entering and leaving ports must be zero-emissions by 2035.

This fall, the California Air Resources Board is expected to require manufacturers not only to produce electric trucks, but also for fleets to purchase them.

One of those is the $82 million Shore-to-Store program in which 10 hydrogen-powered Kenworth T680 Class 8 trucks equipped with Toyota-made hydrogen fuel cells are being used within the ports and for runs to the Inland Empire.

The project includes two hydrogen fueling stations and a pair of terminal tractors.

“We need the original equipment manufacturers and their tiered suppliers to accelerate the development, deployment and delivery of affordable zero-emissions equipment and heavy-duty trucks, not just here in Southern California but throughout the country and the world,” Seroka said.