The ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles have approved new measures to ensure clean engine standards for drayage trucks, requiring all new trucks that visit the ports to be models from 2014 or newer.
The new requirements, approved by the two ports’ board of Harbour Commissioners in June, will take effect on 1 October, 2018 — though the requirements will only apply to trucks that are not currently registered in the Ports Drayage Truck Registry (PDTR).
Trucks that are already registered in the PDTR are already limited to being a 2007 model or newer, with approximately half the fleet consisting of trucks from 2010.
The two ports coordinate on a range of air quality measures as part of the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP), which was founded in 2017 with the aim of moving the area to a zero-emissions industry zone.
Read the technical paper from the Port of Los Angeles focusing on the reduction of air emissions through the CAAP
The new truck requirements are the first step in a series of long-term strategies to advance the progress of introducing clean truck operations — which will look to phase out older trucks and transition to zero-emission vehicles by 2035.
Future proposed steps include waiving the annual PDTR registration fee for near-zero and zero emission trucks, and charging a rate for cargo moves by truck with exemptions for trucks that meet emissions standards.
The two ports have seen significant success in reducing pollution from heavy-duty trucks, with overall emissions of diesel particulate matter dropping 87% and sulphur dioxide emissions dropping 97% since 2005.
