From: lessgovt@gmail.com   
      
   California’s Zero-Emissions Rule Triggers a Run on Diesel Rigs   
   By Paul Berger, Sept. 20, 2023, WSJ   
   Manny Carrillo has spent $1.5 million on two electric big rigs and a charging   
   station at his truck yard in Chino, Calif., ahead of a new state emissions   
   rule that kicks in Jan. 1.    
      
   The CEO of Talon Logistics is also beefing up his fleet with 20 diesel trucks,   
   the kind that the new regulation is seeking to eliminate.   
      
   Carrillo’s is one of many logistics companies loading up on diesel big rigs   
   as California prepares to roll out a rule requiring that trucks purchased   
   after Jan. 1, 2024, that serve the state’s ports be zero-emission vehicles.    
      
   The truckers are trying to bolster their fleets now rather than face the   
   higher costs and other problems, including scarce availability of   
   new-technology rigs and limited charging infrastructure, once the new mandate   
   kicks in.    
      
   “We are trying to take the hit now at a lot more reasonable cost per month   
   versus buying electric trucks next year,” said Carrillo.    
      
   Diesel trucks will have a limited future in California under the new rule, one   
   of a series of regulations that target carbon emissions across the state’s   
   supply chains. The California rule will phase out the use of diesel trucks   
   until the more than 30,   
   000 diesel big rigs that now serve the state’s ports are banned by 2035.   
      
   The regulation is already proving a challenge for truckers across California,   
   from the agricultural export hub at the Port of Oakland to the nation’s   
   busiest gateway for containerized imports at the Southern California ports of   
   Los Angeles and Long    
   Beach. Trucking executives say the state’s regulators are getting far out in   
   front of the industry’s ability to deliver zero-emission rigs.    
      
   The technology underpinning electric vehicles is still developing, they say,   
   and the zero-emission trucks are triple the cost of diesel trucks, while the   
   vehicles and charging stations are in limited supply.    
      
   The struggles show the difficulty local and federal authorities face as they   
   try to push a heavily-polluting industry toward cleaner fuels.   
      
   In California, state officials and regulators are trying to jump-start a   
   market for zero-emission vehicles by mandating their use in state-regulated   
   spaces. They also hope the mandate draws in more suppliers of charging   
   infrastructure.     
      
   For now, however, the rules are boosting sales of diesel trucks.    
      
   Trucking companies typically buy vehicles ahead of new environmental mandates   
   because older trucks purchased before mandates generally are allowed to keep   
   operating once new rules take effect. Buying the trucks beforehand allows   
   companies to push back    
   the expense of buying cleaner, more expensive rigs.    
      
   “I have to think every trucker in California is doing all they can to get as   
   many pre-mandate trucks in place as they possibly can,” said Kenny Vieth,   
   president of ACT Research.   
      
   California has tried to soften the blow for operators by providing grants for   
   truckers buying zero-emission trucks. But production of the vehicles is so   
   limited and the cost and complexity of running the trucks so high that there   
   are fewer than 150 zero-   
   emission trucks in service at the Southern California ports today, said Matt   
   Schrap, CEO of the Harbor Trucking Association trade group.    
      
   The most advanced of those trucks, say trucking executives, can’t travel   
   more than a few hundred miles between charges, so they can only run short   
   trips between ports and nearby rail yards and warehouses.   
      
   The electric trucks themselves are also proving a problem. Nikola and Volvo   
   Trucks North America this summer recalled trucks because of defective parts   
   thought to pose a fire risk.   
      
   Jim Gillis, president of port trucker Pacific Drayage Services, said he is on   
   his third recall since receiving six Volvo electric trucks in January.    
      
   Gillis said that when a diesel truck needs repair it is usually in the shop   
   for three to four days. When a $400,000 electric truck is recalled it is   
   usually out of action for longer. “That’s an expensive asset to lose for   
   three to four weeks,” he    
   said.   
      
   A spokesman for Volvo Trucks North America said the company does everything it   
   can to minimize customer downtime. “Part of being the first to market with   
   Class 8 electric trucks is being the first to face some of these issues, as   
   this is a new    
   technology for the heavy-duty truck market,” said spokesman John Mies.   
      
   Most of the attention to zero-emission trucks has been on those that are   
   powered by batteries. Gillis says he has high hopes for hydrogen-powered   
   trucks, which he says can refuel more quickly than electric trucks and can   
   travel longer distances between    
   refueling. But that technology is even less developed than battery-electric   
   technology.    
      
   Pacific Drayage Services has ordered 20 hydrogen-powered trucks from Nikola   
   that are scheduled to arrive over the next six months. The company has also   
   bought 117 diesel trucks to buy time as the company experiments with   
   zero-emission vehicles.    
      
   “We’re basically trying to lock in growth for the next five or six years   
   while we try out new technologies,” Gillis said.   
      
   https://www.wsj.com/articles/californias-zero-emissions-rule-tri   
   gers-a-run-on-diesel-rigs-863d6444   
      
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