Eight transportation organizations, representing New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Mexico Colorado, Oregon and Washington, asked the governors to delay implementation of Advanced Clean Trucks rules, which are set to take effect at the beginning of 2025 and 2027.
Eric DeGesero, lobbyist for the New Jersey Motor Truck Association, said doing so is vital to the economy – and hopes a movement toward a delay continues forward.
“In New Jersey, important legislation to delay the EV truck regulations by two years passed the Assembly Transportation Committee last week, thanks to the leadership of Chairman Clinton Calabrese, Speaker Craig Coughlin, and the Assembly Transportation Committee,” he said.
“We simply do not have the infrastructure in place for such a dramatic change in our trucking and logistics systems, and seven other states are in a similar position. If the ACT regulations are not delayed, we will see a disastrous impact on our American economy that will result in higher prices, job losses, and shipping delays across the country.”
The letter, sent to the governors or governors-elect in those states, read, in part:
“In your letter to the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association on November 8, 2024, you cite the important role ACT plays in our states’ plans to achieve our greenhouse gas emissions-reduction goals and the threat of climate change.
“To be clear, we fully support these goals, and the trucking industry has worked collaboratively with government partners across the country for years to reduce the emissions from heavy-duty trucks. In fact, 60 trucks today equal the output of one in 1988, and, since the implementation of clean diesel technology in 1974, pollutants have been reduced by 99 percent. These reductions are in part due to the trucking industry’s partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency SmartWay program.
“The damage that our industry will incur by implementing ACT on its current rushed timeline will curtail these critical efforts as clean diesel truck availability will become limited, keeping older, heavier polluting trucks on the road. It will also lead to the inevitable loss in jobs and businesses. Rather, we encourage your states to look at an alternative approach, similar to the SmartWay program, which is a voluntary program with a proven record of success and widely supported by the industry. We are asking that the ACT date for implementation be deferred in order to ensure that our dealers and trucking companies are not unduly harmed, and to provide for an opportunity to work together to find a solution that works toward our state’s environmental goals.”
The letter was signed by the New Jersey Motor Truck Association, the Colorado Motor Carriers Association, the Trucking Association of Massachusetts, the New Mexico Trucking Association, the Trucking Association of New York, the Oregon Trucking Association, the Rhode Island Trucking Association and the Washington Trucking Association.
