MTC set to beat CARB deadlines for equipment

MTC set to beat CARB deadlines for equipment San Francisco-based Marine Terminals Corp says the firm's West Coast efforts to reduce emission pollution are on track to move faster and go beyond mandated requirements for cargo-handling equipment set by the California Air Resources Board.
   The stevedoring firm's green conversion goal, involving the replacement and retrofitting of older cargo-handling equipment, is scheduled to beat the 2010 CARB-mandated compliance date by nearly two years.
   As part of MTC's efforts to reach early attainment, the firm's General Stevedoring division has decided to opt for earlier-than-required replacement of some equipment and to buy new, cleaner equipment rather than retrofit older machines with a CARB 'verified diesel emission control device,' or VDECs. The division recently spent $4 million on the purchase of new equipment that meets the latest emissions standards required by CARB.
   CARB's off-road regulations require that all pre-2003 yard hostlers be replaced by 2010 with engines that meet federal Environmental Protection Agency 2007 standards. Older 2003-2006 vintage hostlers are required to be replaced within 10 years by vehicles meeting the EPA 2010 standard engines. From 2008 to 2012, CARB rules call for other cargo-handling equipment, such as forklifts, top- and side-handlers, reach stackers, and rubber-tired gantries to either be replaced with off-road engines meeting Tier 4 standards, or retrofitted a VDEC.
   At operations in Vancouver, Wash., the firm recently invested more than $1 million in two reach stackers. Used to deliver wind power project cargo imported through the port, the new equipment operates cleaner, thanks to cleaner-burning diesel engines. It also operates more efficiently, reducing the required number of stackers for the job from four to two.
   The firm's General Stevedoring division is also replacing half of its UTRs this year and the remaining half in 2008 with cleaner burning and more fuel-efficient models.