The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are committing US$25 million to a groundbreaking partnership with regional air quality agencies aimed at boosting charging infrastructure for electric heavy-duty drayage trucks in one of the US most populated regions.
This US$135 million initiative, led by the Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee, will install up to 207 charging units at eight sites across Southern California, including Wilmington, Rancho Dominguez, Rialto, Fontana, Commerce, and the Port of Long Beach. The South Coast Air Quality Management District is overseeing the contracting for these projects.
“We’re investing with our Clean Truck Fund to get both zero-emission (ZE) trucks and infrastructure on the street as quickly as possible. In addition to funding charging stations, we’re partnering with the state of California to offer vouchers of up to US$250,000 toward the purchase of a ZE heavy-duty truck. Every day, we’re making progress toward our goal of a zero-emission port,” stated Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles.
Recently, both the Los Angeles Harbor Commission and the Long Beach Harbor Commission approved allocating US$12.5 million each from their Clean Truck Funds to support this plan. The Clean Truck Fund Rate is a central element of the ports’ strategy to transition to a zero-emissions truck fleet by 2035, as outlined in the Clean Air Action Plan.
Since the rate collection began in April 2022, it has been set at US$10 per twenty-foot equivalent unit or US$20 per forty-foot equivalent unit. Exemptions from the rate apply to loaded containers transported by zero-emissions trucks and, under certain conditions, by low-nitrogen oxide trucks. By March 2024, the Port of Los Angeles had collected approximately US$78 million, while the Port of Long Beach had gathered nearly US$75 million.
