ANTHONY VICTORIA: California aims to replace diesel trucks with electric or hydrogen ones, but challenges remain for trucking companies…and diesel exhaust still pollutes the air. I recently spoke with CalMatters reporter Alejandra Reyes-Velarde to learn more.
How are small operators like Mashhoor Alammari managing the state’s truck fleet rules so far, and what unique challenges do they face with adopting zero-emission technology?
REYES-VELARDE: Mashhoor Alammari is a small business owner. He owns, I think, seven or eight trucks in the Oakland area where he's grown up his whole life. He started as a truck driver – saved enough money to finally get his first truck and start a business and has just been growing it since then. And he got to the point where he wanted to do his part to move towards zero emissions and help clean up his community's air. So he ordered these two hydrogen fuel cell trucks.
But since he bought them earlier in the year, they've been sitting in his lot. His main problem is he can't get shipping companies to pay more to work with the hydrogen fuel cell trucks. A lot of shipping companies are preferring to work with diesel because it's cheaper. It's just cheaper to operate them. So he's actually ordered three more hydrogen trucks, but he's kind of holding off on actually purchasing them. If he can't get people to work with them, then he can't move forward in buying them. And also, in his view, his business is at risk. But also, the kind of move towards zero emissions is at risk because people like him won't move forward.
What role is infrastructure, such as the lack of charging or hydrogen fueling stations, playing in these challenges?
One of the major challenges is the lack of infrastructure throughout the state for battery and hydrogen trucks. Battery powered ones – they're the ones that there's more of an issue with the range. They're advertised to have about a 200 mile range, but when people are actually driving them it's more like 150 miles for different reasons. It depends on the route and how fast you go and the weight. People going from the port to a place like the Central Valley or the Inland Empire, that's a lot more, sometimes more than 150 miles. So, if they don't have a charging station along the way that can be a problem for them. Hydrogen trucks have a longer range, about 500 or so miles, so that's less of a problem. In the future, when the regulation is going to impact people who make those longer distances across the entire state, they're going to need more fueling stations.
I know the industry has been very much opposed to California's rules. How are they responding to some of these early struggles? Are there any solutions or compromises they’re advocating for?
REYES-VELARDE: Most of the people, or a lot of people I talk to in the industry, aren't necessarily opposed to cleaner air. They're not necessarily opposed to regulation to get there, but they're opposed to pushing this regulation before the infrastructure is ready, before the industry is ready. There's a couple of lawsuits against the state of California, [arguing] that they are overstepping their power. So they are fighting this. But the reason is they want a practical solution for the regulation to work on the ground, for people like Mashhoor.
They want a slower transition. They want investment in the infrastructure. And they want more money for these businesses, small and large, to be able to buy more trucks and make it happen in an easier way for them. And they want CARB to also focus on other ways to reduce emissions while there's investment in the infrastructure and get things ready for drivers to be able to handle it. CARB says it's necessary to transition to zero emissions to reach their goals and they're kind of forcing the technology to happen by implementing the regulation.
How could a Trump administration’s stance on environmental regulations impact not just California’s clean transportation progress, but the health of communities most affected by diesel pollution?
REYES-VELARDE: In this case, specifically the zero emission truck regulations that we're talking about there aren't actually enforceable until the EPA approves a waiver for California to be able to enforce these rules. We're cutting it close. If they don't get that EPA waiver approval before the Trump administration comes in, it's very likely that the Trump administration would not approve that waiver. These regulations won't be put in place, and these communities, like the Ulloa family, will have to wait longer for the state to be able to do something about reducing emissions.
So yeah, it's a very direct impact that the administration can have and environmental advocates and everyone is waiting to see what happens, to see if this waiver is approved, to see what the Trump administration will do. But it's very likely he would push back against not just this regulation, but other environmental regulations that would benefit communities' health.
