Guess who CARB’s biggest tipsters are…

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According to the L.A. Times, the California Air Resources Board is getting the most help in enforcing its powertrain upgrade regs, with a big deadline for small fleets and owner-ops upcoming at the end of the year, from, well, truckers themselves. 

Reporting by Tony Barboza published in the Times yesterday reveals that some fleets, having invested in upgrades to satisfy either the Statewide Truck & Bus Rule or the more stringent Drayage Rule (which will require any truck entering a California port to be running 2007 or later engine emissions technology at the end of the year), are reporting competing fleets who’ve put off upgrades given CARB’s seemingly limited ability to enforce its own rules. Such lax enforcement has been reported here, too, notably among commenters, one of whom delivered this message to Overdrive readers back in June

I live and operate in [California]. You guys should keep coming out here. They have only 100 enforcement people to take care of this debacle. The chances of getting caught are like playing the lottery. Everyone here is still running their junk. I have upgraded and am suffering the ills of making big payments. I am compliant, reluctantly.

From Barboza’s reporting, it sounds like the kind of trucking solidarity such comments evoke is increasingly not the rule of the day out West. “Truckers are also the No.1 tipsters” to CARB, writes Barboza, “placing anonymous calls and sending emails to finger competitors they say are gaining an unfair advantage by not upgrading their engines or installing expensive filters that capture harmful diesel particulates before they are released into the air.”

Overdrive has some in-depth reporting on the California issue upcoming in the October issue, likewise online here in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.

California’s aggressive regulatory climate provoked this sentiment, which has circulated online in different forms. Kentucky-based owner-operator Chris Thomas made stickers of this version he planned to offer up to anyone who wanted one. Find him via his IndieTrucker.com website.California’s aggressive regulatory climate provoked this sentiment, which has circulated online in different forms. Kentucky-based owner-operator Chris Thomas made stickers of this version he planned to offer up to anyone who wanted one. Find him via his IndieTrucker.com website.

In the meantime, read the L.A. Times story via this link, and here’s a round-up of our coverage from the past six months or so: 

**Tale of two CA ports in recent protest actions
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Last days for CARB’s manufacturer-delay extension
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Retrofit-DPF sales to satisfy California regulations lag
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CARB mandate: ‘Government working against us’
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Staring down CARB, learning from the best
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Kevin Rutherford on The California challenge
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Frustrated with California regs? So are these guys
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California group continues court battle over emissions regs