Trucking Industry Cuts Deal With California To Phase Out Diesel-Powered Vehicles

Nick Pope on July 6, 2023

California regulators and leading truck and engine manufacturers reached an agreement Thursday to phase out diesel-powered trucks in exchange for regulatory concessions, according to Bloomberg News.

The Engine Manufacturers Association (EMA) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) agreed to the Clean Truck Partnership, which stipulates that the state will reduce a stringent nitrogen oxide emissions standard to the federal baseline and provide the truck and engine makers more time to come into compliance, according to Bloomberg News. In exchange for these special concessions, EMA pledged that its constituent entities will eventually satisfy CARB’s aggressive long-term emissions restrictions, even if the courts strike them down, according to Bloomberg News.

EMA represents 30 truck and engine manufacturing companies, including General Motors, Honda’s U.S. wing, Volvo’s U.S. arm and the owner of Ram, according to EMA’s website. CARB is a branch of the California Environmental Protection Agency, according to its website.

“That is just Big Trucking reaching an accommodation with Big Government,” Steve Milloy, senior legal fellow at the Energy & Environment Legal Institute, said of the deal to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Truck and engine makers support stringent emissions requirements because they force truckers to buy new trucks.”

“Meanwhile, trucking firms (big and independent) and ultimately consumers are being hurt,” Milloy continued. “There is no environmental or public health benefit from any of this. Just added costs.”

The Clean Truck Partnership affects vehicles weighing over 14,000 pounds, a category which includes trailer trucks as well as certain heavy-duty pickup trucks, according to Bloomberg News. In exchange for its concessions, the EMA received CARB’s commitment that it would align its emissions standards for heavy-duty engine emissions with those of the federal EPA, according to a Thursday press release from CARB announcing the agreement.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued new emissions standards in Dec. 2022 that would tighten existing standards by 80% for heavy-duty vehicles by 2027, which survived a rollback attempt from congressional Republicans due to a veto from President Joe Biden. California’s nitrogen oxide emissions standards are considered to be even more restrictive than those promulgated by the federal government, according to National Public Radio.

“The unprecedented collaboration between California regulators and truck manufacturers marks a new era in our zero-emission future,” CARB Chairwoman Liane Randolph said of the partnership, according to the press release. As part of the deal, CARB secured the manufacturers’ commitment to eventually aligning with CARB’s stated goal to “transition toward 100% sale and use of zero-emissions technology for medium- and-heavy duty vehicles” by 2045, according to the press release.

Critics of electric heavy-duty trucks have pointed to inadequacies in the product design, available charging infrastructure and power supply, according to the American Trucking Associations. New diesel-fueled heavy duty trucks currently cost around $200,00, while a new electric heavy-duty truck of comparable caliber can cost $480,000 or more, according to the American Trucking Associations.

“This agreement reaffirms EMA’s and its members’ longstanding commitment to reducing emissions and to a zero-emissions commercial vehicle future and it demonstrates how EMA and CARB can work together to achieve shared clean air goals,” EMA President Jed Mandel said, according to the Thursday press release. “Through this agreement, we have aligned on a single nationwide nitrogen oxide emissions standard, secured needed lead time and stability for manufacturers and agreed on regulatory changes that will ensure continued availability of commercial vehicles.”

Neither CARB nor EMA responded immediately to the DCNF’s requests for comment.

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