A few small trucking company owners took the opportunity last week to give California’s Air Resources Board “an earful,” pointing to both general and specific issues with implementation of the state’s latest emissions regulations (which went into effect this year), according to KHSL 12, a CBS affiliate in Chico, Calif.
Namely, the requirement that 2000-2004 year-model engines be retrofitted with a state-approved soot filter or the vehicles be done away with or updated was the rule drawing the most fire.
Noncompliance could be met with $1,000 fines, block of registration or even impounding vehicles.
A town hall meeting put together by California Assemblyman Dan Logue gave business owners the opportunity “to vent their frustrations,” says KHSL’s article.
One small fleet oner said he’s already had to lay off two workers and retire two trucks that weren’t compliant with the new regs.
Business owners, says Randy McLaughlin of Old Durham Wood, just aren’t able to afford the ever-tightening CARB regulations. When 2014 rules go into effect, “those single truck owners will be out of business,” says McLaughlin.