If you live in the US, the stuff you buy – that new dining table, bag of rice, or pants that’s going to your house right now – can experience the all-electric future of global transportation before you do.
Each year, tens of millions of tons of cargo move through California’s ports, from ship to port and beyond on colossal semi-trucks. Forty percent of the country’s containerized imports pass through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach alone, vital links in a global trade chain that connects factories around the world to US doorsteps.
But a new rule passed last month by California’s air regulator requires major changes to that supply chain, in the name of saving Earth’s climate and the lungs of people who live close to ports. By 2035, every tow truck vehicle in California — large trucks that move goods between ports, rail yards, and distribution centers — must be a zero-emissions vehicle. From next year, any transport or shipping company purchasing a new truck will have to buy an electric model powered by batteries or hydrogen fuel cells.
The mandates in California’s ports are just a taste of what needs to happen nationally and globally, environmental advocates say, if policymakers are to seriously address the threats of climate change. California plans to ban the sale of gas-powered cars to consumers by 2035. And switching from diesel-powered to electric-powered tow trucks should also help clear the dirty air around the state’s ports and rail yards, welcome news for the primarily colored communities who work and live in those areas and, as a result, are more likely to suffer from cancer, heart disease and asthma. According to estimates by the California government, some 5,500 heart- and lung-related deaths could be prevented by 2050.
California’s new rule, part of a series of state regulations targeting freight, promises to accelerate a fledgling electric heavy-duty truck industry, putting the weight of the world’s fifth-largest economy — and some of the world’s most creative environmental regulators — behind businesses who build trucks, batteries and charging stations. Thirteen states have committed to match or consider California’s clean truck policy.
Some on the front lines of the electrification mandate, including the small business owners who move nearly a third of California’s containerized goods, say the regulation has moved too quickly. “It’s the whole cart-before-the-horse thing,” said Matt Schrap, CEO of the Harbor Trucking Association, which represents freight industry companies operating out of West Coast ports.
Even with generous state and federal funding and tax credits for owners that can cut the cost of expensive battery- or hydrogen-powered trucks in half, owners say the vehicles are a financial drain. There are few places to charge or refill them.
“I am not a hardcore diesel truck man. I’m not married to the idea of an internal combustion engine,” said David Gurrola Jr., an owner-operator who primarily transports scrap metal and recycled paper between the Port of Long Beach and San Diego. “I just need a chance for the technology to catch up with the people’s needs.”
