Peter T. Leach, Senior Editor | Apr 12, 2012 3:42PM EDT
The first new truck funded by the Massachusetts Port Authority’s Clean Truck program was purchased and put into service in the Port of Boston this month.
The clean diesel replacement truck was purchased this month by independent owner/operator John Jones, who is contracted to drive for Atlantic Beverage Express in Braintree, and drays containers to and from Boston’s Conley Terminal an average of three times a day
Massport teamed up with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last fall to establish a jointly-funded program giving owners of older trucks servicing the terminal a financial incentive to replace them with ones that are 2007 emission compliant or newer.
Through the Clean Truck program Jones bought a 2008 Kenworth W900L truck with a 2007 Caterpillar C-15 engine, and his old truck, a 1996 Ford LTL9000 truck with a 1995 Caterpillar 3406E engine, was taken off the road and demolished.
Over the next ten years, it is anticipated that Jones’ truck will eliminate more than 10 tons of nitrogen oxides, 6 tons of hydrocarbons and nearly a half a ton of particulate matter from the environment. Massport expects up to 60 older trucks to be replaced, with truck owners contributing at least half of the replacement cost. The old truck engine must be disabled and scrapped.
Older trucks serving Conley are a major source of port-related air emissions. The Clean Truck Program aims to replace trucks that are 15 to 26 years old with a 2007 emission compliant truck, and combines $1 million in Massport-funded support and a $500,000 EPA Diesel Emissions Reduction Act grant. The $1.5 million is available to provide truck owners with 50 percent of the replacement cost, up to $25,000.
Contact Peter T. Leach at pleach@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @petertleach.