By Warren Hoemann
Warren Hoemann served as Deputy Administrator of FMCSA from 2003-2006 and as a senior vice president with American Trucking Associations (ATA) from 2006-2017. Mr. Hoemann has had a long career in trucking, including executive positions at the California Trucking Association, at a major trucking company, at a transportation research institute, and in private legal practice representing trucking companies and is a highly regarded regulatory expert.
If you are based or operating in California, ongoing actions of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) should be on your radar screen. CARB has proposed a mandate that would require fleets that are replacing trucks to purchase zero-emission trucks as replacements, beginning for some fleets as early as 2024. As an option, affected carriers could choose to convert from 10% to 50% of their California fleet to zero-emission trucks by 2031. Comments on this proposal are due to CARB by October 17, 2022. A public hearing October 27 will provide another opportunity to comment on CARB’s Advanced Clean Fleets regulation.
Here is what CARB has in mind:
Just as the trucking industry is complex, so too is this proposed CARB regulation. Clearly, it would impact fleets with operations in other states and may provide an incentive for those states to adopt their own zero-emission policies or to retaliate against California-based fleets. Your comments, by October 17, can be sent to CARB through a California Trucking Association link.
While the zero-emission mandate doesn’t hit every ICSA member, any truck operating in California after January 1, 2023 will be subject to CARB’s heavy-duty emissions inspection program. In 2023, roadside emissions monitoring devices will look for high-emitting heavy-duty trucks, regardless of their state of registration, and identified polluters will be required to undergo testing by certified technicians, who could require emission control repairs. By mid-2023, all trucks operating in California, regardless of their base state of registration, will be required to register with CARB and pay an annual $30 per vehicle fee. That database will be used by CARB to enforce a 2024 requirement that all fleets conduct semi-annual emissions testing and submit the results to CARB.
ICSA is working closely with American Trucking Associations to monitor and report on these requirements and will keep you updated as we enter 2023.
Every year, TAT (formerly called Truckers Against Trafficking) honors a member of the trucking, bus or energy industry, whose direct actions help save or improve the lives of those exploited or prevent human trafficking from taking place, with the Harriet Tubman Award
Bob Costello has indicated that the freight market has improved – but very slowly – since January. It must be said that ATA’s indices are dominated by contract freight as opposed to spot rates.
Now, however, with Republican control of both houses of Congress and the White House (and, some say, the Supreme Court) I am optimistic that trucking will get a fairer shake than it has during Biden’s term in office.