California Eyes Delay for On-Road Rule

The California Air Resources Board will most likely give over-the-road truckers more time to comply with a rule designed to reduce diesel emissions from heavy-duty vehicles.

Phased implementation of the On-Road Truck and Bus Regulation was scheduled to begin at the end of this year. It will require the phasing out of older trucks until 2023 when100 percent of the on-road trucks in California must be 2010 model or newer vehicles.

The California Trucking Association and other industry organizations told CARB that due to the economic recession, which hit the trucking industry especially hard, many truckers can not afford to purchase costly new trucks at this time.

Furthermore, reduced miles driven during the freight recession have probably reduced diesel emissions from trucking by about 20 percent, thereby relieving some of the urgency of early implementation of the regulation.

The CARB board instructed its staff to consider various relief measures and to issue a report, with recommendations, in late February, Matt Schrap, director of environmental affairs at the California Trucking Association, told the organization Thursday. CARB's Board will take up the recommendations at its April meeting.

The On-Road Truck and Bus Regulation does not affect drayage at California ports and intermodal rail yards. CARB's drayage truck rules are being implemented under a more aggressive timetable.

Schrap said on-road motor carriers should not hold out hope that the truck and bus rule will be scrapped. CARB has been telling the industry for several years now to prepare for the on-road rule, and a number of motor carriers have already begun to upgrade their fleets in response.

Rather, the relief will most likely come in the form of pushing back certain deadlines and providing credit for early retrofitting of vehicles.

"It will be the same costs, it's just that they'll be deferred," Schrap said.

Contact Bill Mongelluzzo at bmongelluzzo@joc.com.