The Port of Los Angeles (LA) has awarded a total of US$6m to two trucking companies and their truck manufacturer partners to help speed up the transition to zero-emission (ZE) drayage trucks serving the port.
Funds provided by the grants contribute toward the cost of putting 22 pre-production emissions-free models in port service during 2023.
Port of LA executive director Gene Seroka said: “This is just one of the incentives we are offering to accelerate ZE technology and drive stakeholder investment.
“We have a long way to go but with our private and public partners, we can reduce greenhouse gases and meet our 2035 goal of transitioning the entire fleet serving our port complex to ZE trucks.”
LA-area licensed motor carriers Gardena-based MLI Leasing and El-Segundo-based Performance Team will receive US$3m each – the maximum funding per trucking company available under the port’s Zero Emission Truck Pilot programme.
Each carrier has partnered with a leading original equipment manufacturer to qualify for the incentive.
MLI is working with Peterbilt and investing more than US$3.4m to produce and deploy 12 ZE trucks, while Performance Team is working with Volvo and investing more than SU$4.6m to produce and deploy the remaining 10 trucks.
All 22 trucks will be battery-electric models that are planned to be on the road within he coming year.
Each vehicle must make at least 50 drayage tricks annually to Port of LA terminals.
Tim McOsker, district Los Angeles City council member, said: “Developing and deploying ZE trucks are critical to the health of residents who live and work around the ports.
“These grants are one step in a comprehensive strategy toward a clean supply chain. I look forward to partnering with the port as we combat climate change.”
Approved by the LA Harbor Commission, the awards represent the first distribution of Clean Truck Fund (CTF) dollars by the Port of LA since April 1 when the San Pedro Bay ports began collecting US$10 for every loaded teu moving through the port by truck.
The port expects to raise US$45m within the first 12 months and each subsequent year based on the current rate.
All CTF revenues, which is paid by cargo owners or their agents, will be used to offer incentives that accelerate the deployment of ZE trucks serving the San Pedro Bay ports.
For the first three years, the port has prioritised spending the money on truck vouchers, support for small fleets and independent owner-operators, matching funds to support electric and clan energy fuelling infrastructure, advanced truck technologies, and innovative ZE concept trucks.
ZE trucks are permanently exempt from the CTF rate, while trucks with low emissions of NOx, in according to state standards, are temporarily exempt until December 27, 2027 provided they are registered in the San Pedro Bay Ports Drayage Truck Registry by the end of 2022.
The programme builds on the port’s original Clean Truck programme, which has played a crucial role in reducing emissions of diesel particulate matter by 84%, sulphur oxides by 95% and NOx by 44% from port related operations since 2005.
Still, 95% of the drayage fleet serving the port complex runs on diesel and the push to turn over the entire fleet to ZE models by 2035 is expected to yield greater clean air progress, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions from all port-related sources 40% below 1990 levels by 2030.
