PORTLAND, OR – Daimler Trucks North America today held events celebrating delivery of 132 new natural gas (NG)-fueled tractors to drivers who contract with California Cartage Company and 100 new NG trucks for the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles’ Clean Truck Program. Marking an innovative partnership between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the Southern California Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) and Cal Cartage, a private company committed to building a clean drayage fleet, the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles appear well on their way to becoming two of the “greenest” ports in the country.
Nearly $12 million in grant funding for California Cartage’s project has been provided by the South Coast Air Quality Management District using funding from a U.S. EPA grant and from California’s Proposition 1B Program. “The Air District is very proud to have played an important role in this aggressive alternative fuels project,” commented Dr. William Burke, Chairman of the agency’s Governing Board. “This clean truck project is good for California’s environment and California’s residents on all accounts. The project will prove that we can have a thriving port while still protecting public health. These ultra-clean LNG trucks will provide extremely important air quality benefits to those that live close to the ports and throughout our entire region.”
In addition to the 132 vehicles delivered to California Cartage, the 100 NG vehicles earmarked for deployment by licensed motor carriers and owner operators doing business with the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles will help meet the objectives of the Ports’ Clean Truck Program. The deployment of these near-zero emission trucks will lead to immediate improvements in air quality while enabling California Cartage’s drivers and the ports to comply with some of the most stringent emissions reductions standards in the world, setting new benchmarks in the future of harbor drayage.
California Cartage’s new low-emission natural gas fleet is the result of plans developed by California Cartage Company working in cooperation with the EPA, CARB and the SCAQMD to remove older, pollution-creating trucks from the harbors. The initiative was developed to make the trucks more affordable for the benefit of owner operators working with California Cartage. The trucks, Sterling
