Trucking news and briefs for Monday, April 8, 2024:
A group whose legal arm is led by former U.S. Attorney General William Barr is suing California over its Advanced Clean Fleets regulation requiring fleets to transition to zero-emissions trucks, beginning this year in the drayage sector.
The American Free Enterprise Chamber of Commerce (AmFree Chamber), whose Center for Legal Action is chaired by Barr, and Associated Equipment Distributors (AED) filed the lawsuit on April 1. The ACF rule is also under fire from the California Trucking Association, which filed suit in October.
“The ability to move people and products reliably and affordably is foundational to free enterprise and a functioning marketplace that serves American consumers,” said Gentry Collins, AmFree Chamber CEO. “The attempt currently underway by the state of California to ban liquid fuels and internal combustion engines is a major threat to the American way of life and terrible climate policy to boot.”
AmFree Chamber called the mandate “a power grab that seeks to regulate out-of-state truck fleets if they so much as cross the state line even once per year.”
“AED members supply and service the equipment critical to our nation’s construction, agriculture, forestry, industrial and energy sectors,” said Brian P. McGuire, AED’s President and CEO. “We cannot sit on the sidelines as California exceeds its legal authority and businesses are forced to adopt products that aren’t readily available in the marketplace.”
[Related: Do fleets need to comply with California's now-halted diesel ban?]
