Long Beach mayor Robert Garcia, Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti and officials from the Port of Long Beach and Port of Los Angeles gathered on Friday 1 April to launch the clean truck fund rate, which is anticipated to accelerate the deployment of zero-emission trucks and infrastructure at the San Pedro Bay port complex.
As of 1 April, cargo owners pay up to US$20 per loaded container hauled by drayage trucks in and out of the container terminals, as the two US ports have set the goal to achieve zero-emissions drayage trucking by 2035.
“The Clean Truck Fund is going to clean our air and help usher in a zero-emissions future at our ports,” said Mayor Garcia. “It’s another step forward on the commitments we made to adopt the goals of the Paris Climate agreement and the Clean Air Action Plan,” he added.
Port of Long Beach executive director Mario Cordero also noted, “The clean truck programme allows us to balance the aggressive pursuit of zero-emissions operations with economic vitality and competitiveness,” and continued, “I’m urging the intermodal shipping industry to follow our lead in San Pedro Bay by decarbonising trucking and minimising climate impacts.”
Since the original Clean Truck programmes were launched in 2008, diesel emissions from trucks have been cut by as much as 97% compared to 2005 levels, according to the Port of Long Beach.
However, trucks remain the ports’ largest source of greenhouse gas emissions and the second-highest source of nitrogen oxides, a contributor to regional smog formation.
