The Port of Los Angeles is putting serious money behind its push to clean up drayage operations, opening applications for a $75 million incentive program designed to get more battery-electric big rigs hauling containers in and out of the port.
The Zero-Emission Truck Purchasing Incentive Project, announced by the Port on July 13, is open to any Licensed Motor Carrier already registered in the Port Drayage Truck Registry. In order to qualify, a fleet must commit to buying at least 10 Class 8 battery-electric drayage trucks, such as the Tesla Semi. In exchange, the Port will kick in up to $300,000 per truck, with individual carriers eligible for as much as $24 million.
[Related: California's new electric truck incentive program sparks debate over who needs the money most]
Of the $75 million total, $50 million comes from a U.S. EPA Clean Ports Program grant, with the remaining $25 million drawn from the Port's own Clean Truck Fund Rate. Carriers interested in applying can review the full request for proposals through the Port's contracting portal. Questions on the bid are due by July 20, and completed proposals must be submitted by 3 p.m. on Dec. 3.
The new incentive builds on a broader zero-emission push the Port has been ramping up for more than a year. As Clean Trucking reported last year, the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners approved a spending plan directing how Clean Truck Fund revenue would be allocated through mid-2028, funded by a per-container fee charged on cargo moved by diesel-powered trucks. At the time, the Port had collected $123 million through that fee since April 2022 and had already committed $93 million of it toward zero-emission vouchers and charging infrastructure, with more than 540 zero-emission trucks operating across the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
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This latest $75 million round adds to that momentum, and it isn't the Port's only zero-emission initiative in motion. Alongside the Harbor Community Benefit Foundation and terminal operators including APM Terminals, Everport Terminal Services, Fenix Marine Services, TraPac and Yusen Terminals, the Port is part of a broader $600 million-plus effort under the EPA's Clean Ports Program aimed at moving San Pedro Bay terminal operations entirely to zero-emission equipment.
With the drayage fleet still overwhelmingly diesel-powered, the new purchasing incentive gives carriers one more financial reason to make the switch—and gives the Port another data point in its case that the transition is picking up speed.
