Oakland port freight hauler spending $1m on cleaner cargo handling equipment

To reduce diesel emissions, Impact Transportation is buying nine new forklifts and a yard tractor, all of which will run on either propane or diesel fuel.    Port of Oakland freight hauler Impact Transportation plans to spend over $1 million on cleaner cargo-handling equipment, the trucking and warehousing specialist said Oct. 25.
   To reduce diesel emissions, Impact is buying nine new forklifts and a yard tractor, all of which will run on either propane or diesel fuel, the company said, adding that its diesel-powered machines would operate with Tier 4F engines, which meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s toughest diesel exhaust restrictions.
   Impact handles over 100,000 20-foot containers worth of cargo annually at its Port of Oakland facility.
   Even before Impact’s new measures, diesel emissions from Oakland cargo-handling operations had already declined 82 percent since 2005, the port said, thanks mostly to the port’s clean air strategy, which includes equipment upgrades by tenants. The Port said it expects another 16 percent reduction by 2020 with help from freight-haulers and marine terminals.
   Impact Transportation President Ron Cancilla said his company’s equipment upgrades aren’t just about complying with local, state and federal regulations.
   “We’re also doing this for the health and safety of our employees, our closest Oakland neighbors and the entire port community,” he said.
   Impact is the second major freight-hauler at the port this month to take action on cutting back on diesel emissions. Last week, GSC Logistics, another Oakland trucking firm, received its first battery-powered truck for a three-year trial.