Voters and a change of party in the California state capitol after Tuesday’s election look to ensure the enforcement of regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from heavy-duty tractors and trailers. With more than 90 percent of precincts reporting, a solid 61 percent of voters rejected Proposition 23, a measure that would have suspended the state’s green regulations until the unemployment rate dipped below 5.5 percent for a year. The election of Democrat Jerry Brown also reduces the likelihood that the state will backtrack on emissions reduction regulations. However, the California Continue Reading

The financial incentive program the California Air Resources Board (CARB) put in place in 2007 is showing results, as the agency announced it has help put more than 650 hybrid trucks and buses on the state’s roads. Through the program, which is administered through CalStart, a nonprofit organization that works with business, fleets and government to develop and implement clean, efficient transportation solutions, provides vouchers to help fleets offset the higher costs associated with purchasing the advanced technology vehicles. That technology, though, is credited with reducing emissions and Continue Reading

Four of California’s heavy-traffic trade corridors will benefit from $200 million in voter-approved Proposition 1B funds to help reduce emissions from heavy-duty trucks, locomotives and railyards, commercial harbor craft and other sources. The Los Angeles/Inland Empire, Central Valley, Bay Area and San Diego/Border regions were Continue Reading

Despite a challenge from the American Trucking Associations (ATA), California’s “reefer retrofit” rule requiring trucks in and out of the state to upgrade its transport refrigeration unit (TRU) with the goal of helping to reduce emissions will stand. ATA petitioned the courts to reconsider the rule, which has been enforced in California since Jan. 1, because the state essentially Continue Reading

Partnerships among manufacturers of idle-reduction systems could pay off both for customers and the OEMs. By pooling resources, vendors potentially tap into greater innovations that offer higher returns on investment for customers, and fleets benefit from utilizing more advanced equipment. OEMs agreed that to succeed in Continue Reading

On the first day funds were available through the joint funding program between the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the CA-based Clean Transportation Technologies and Solutions (CalStart) organization, $5 million went out. To organizers, that indicates a “pent-up” demand for hybrid technologies. The $20-million Hybrid Truck and Continue Reading

Since the first part of January, when the California Air Resources Board (CARB) began enforcing the Transport Refrigeration Unit (TRU) Airborne Toxic Control Measure (ATCM) in-use performance standards, nearly 100 citations have been issued. As CARB continues its enforcement of this rule, they are also reminding fleets of resources to meet compliance. CARB’s TRU website has posted various compliance assistance Continue Reading

The Trucking Industry Mobility and Technology Coalition (TIMTC) will host a webinar next week about the trucking industry’s efforts to meet sustainability objectives and available green strategies and technologies. The Department of Transportation (DOT) is sponsoring the webinar titled “Green Trucks: The View from the Road” on Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010, from Continue Reading

On the first day of enforcing the “Port Truck ban,” a solid 92 percent of trucks were allowed through using sophisticated RFID technology to scan each truck’s number and compares it to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) database, in which all drayage trucks must be registered. Under the program, trucks with pre-1994 engines are denied access, as well as trucks with 1994-2003 engines unless equipped with a CARB-compliant, Level 3 diesel particulate filter. By the second day Continue Reading

Joining its bordering American neighbors, Quebec recently became the first Canadian province to adopt California’s emissions standards for cars and light-duty trucks. Those classes of vehicles built between 2010 and 2016 will be subject to increasingly strict restrictions on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Of the 14 states that have already chosen to Continue Reading