SoCal Clean Trucks Program ending

   Jan. 1 marks the end of the Southern California ports’ four-year effort to make cleaner the drayage trucks that serve container terminals in Los Angeles and Long Beach.
   The Port of Los Angeles said Tuesday that effective that day, “every local short-haul or drayage truck calling at the Port of Los Angeles will meet the strictest clean air and safety standards of any major port in the world.”
   The end of the two ports’ Clean Trucks Program also means the end of a $35 fee assessed on any gate move by a truck that did not meet the 2007 clean engine standards during the transition. The Port of L.A. said the fees generated roughly $60 million, which was invested in the conversion of the local drayage fleet into cleaner models.
   Aside from investments based on the program fee, the port estimates the program spurred the local trucking community to commit to $1 billion in purchases and leases of newer trucks.
   Port officials said 1,473 of the current drayage fleet of 11,772 trucks now serving the ports will retire from port service Jan. 1, the final leg of a phased-in program that began in 2008.
   The port noted that the program exceeded its goal of reducing harmful emissions from trucks by at least 80 percent and did so ahead of schedule. Emissions studies comparing overall emissions for 2010 with those of 2005 show a 92 percent reduction of sulfur oxides, an 89 percent of diesel particulate matter, and a 77 percent reduction of nitrogen oxides – the primary pollutants associated with smog and unhealthy air.
   Los Angeles also said the Clean Trucks Program (CTP) has brought greater accountability to an industry that previously was largely unknown.
   “For the first time in the history of America’s busiest port, every truck and its owner are now known to port authorities due to the landmark concession agreement under which drayage companies now operate,” the port said. “Agreements with each licensed motor carrier serving the port ensure that environmental, safety and security standards are met, which include proper truck maintenance. Prior to the CTP, there was zero accountability of some 16,800 trucks calling at the terminals.”