Long Beach port adds Class 7 trucks to program

Updated Dec 29, 2010

The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners on Dec. 20 voted to expand the Port of Long Beach’s Clean Trucks Program to include Class 7 rigs, and to penalize trucking companies that switch cargo between trucks outside port terminals. The Port of Los Angeles adopted similar measures earlier this month.

Under the Clean Trucks Program, Class 8 trucks are subject to strict emissions standards, and older models have been banned progressively from terminals since the program began in 2008. Class 7 trucks, which typically are not used in drayage, were not included in the Clean Trucks Program.

The program banned virtually all Class 8 trucks that did not meet 2007 emissions standards earlier this year. The port says that since then, some trucking companies have begun using older Class 7 models to move lighter loads like empty containers.

The board also authorized staff to find a way to penalize trucking companies that employ drayoffs, or switch cargo from a Clean Trucks Program-compliant truck to an older noncompliant truck once the vehicle is outside a cargo terminal.