Port Drayage Truck Electrification

Canary Media: “‘Green bank’ launches $240M effort to electrify California’s port trucks.” Electric trucks—cleaner, cheaper, quieter than diesel vehicles—represent a win for both the planet + trucking companies. ‘Climate United, one of the country’s newly established nonprofit ​“green banks,” unveiled a $250 million plan with electric truck-charging startup Forum Mobility aimed at overcoming those barriers.’ The money is targeted to secure low-cost financing for some 500 U.S.-built Class 8 electric trucks, the ‘largest such order of electric trucks in the country — for small freight companies and independent truckers serving California’s busiest and most heavily polluted seaports.’ The Long Beach + Los Angeles ports handle ~ 30% of our container imports. And about 80% of the ​“drayage” trucks that haul those containers to inland distribution centers are owned by small fleet operators and independent drivers, said Beth Bafford, CEO of Climate United. “Under California’s ambitious clean-truck and clean-fleet mandates, all of the roughly 33,000 drayage trucks in the state must become entirely emissions-free by 2035.” Clearly if the optimal combined financing + charging package is not created, the “big guys will transition and get the benefits, and the last guys driving the diesel trucks will be the small guys.” Climate United’s order would roughly double the number of electric trucks serving Southern California’s ports. “We’re prioritizing fleets between five and 20 trucks — they will be first in line.” The Harbor Trucking Association, representing drayage truckers up and down the West Coast, praised the new program. Health benefits will accrue as well: for the ‘heavily polluted + predominantly low-income communities of color living near Southern California’s ports, where public health data indicates that ​“extremely high levels of air pollution lead to higher levels of health conditions, asthma, a lot of conditions that affect the health of families and children.” The outcome of this program is now hanging fire, waiting for the outcome of the upcoming election.