Port of Oakland pitches clean-truck grants to freight haulers

The port said it is meeting with trucking company owners and harbor drivers to inform them about clean-truck grants, under which the State of California is providing millions of dollars for buying new, lower-emission trucks and cargo handling equipment.    Port of Oakland officials are making an 11th hour financial pitch to freight haulers in January to get them to take advantage of clean-truck grants under which the State of California is providing millions of dollars for the purchase of new, lower-emission trucks and cargo-handling equipment.
   The port said Friday that it’s meeting with trucking company owners and harbor drivers to inform them about clean-truck grants. Among the opportunities, according to the port, are $48 million from a 2006 state ballot measure for purchasing rigs that range from natural gas-powered to electric.
   Available funds also include over $16 million from California’s Carl Moyer air quality program for everything from new trucks to marine terminal cargo handling equipment; and up to $150,000 per unit in vouchers through the state’s Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Project.
   The port said it’s encouraging truckers to sign up as part of efforts to reduce diesel and greenhouse gas emissions in Oakland. Previous clean-truck programs have cut diesel particulate matter emissions 98 percent at the port since 2005, according to Oakland statistics.
   “We’ve made significant progress in Oakland in partnership with air quality regulators and harbor truckers,” Port of Oakland Environmental Supervisor Diane Heinze said. “Now it’s time to ramp up the effort as new clean-air technology becomes available.”
   The port previously announced that it plans to introduce an updated clean air plan later this year to attack air emissions, and that the plan would include working with industry, public sector and community partners to bring grant funding to Oakland.
   Officials from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District participated in a meeting with port truckers last week, and a follow-up  meeting is planned with about 50 harbor drivers and trucking company owners on Jan. 22. Timing is critical, the port said, because the air district’s deadline is Jan. 26 for goods movement grants.