US – After some quite fractious negotiations in California, not to mention ongoing litigation, when attempts to purge the atmosphere of vehicle pollutants emanating from older rigs was proposed and then introduced, it seems authorities in New York have learnt by their southerly cousins’ mistakes. Today the American Trucking Associations (ATA) praised the leadership of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for developing a Clean Trucks Program designed to improve air quality at the port.
As from 1st January next year pre-1994 model trucks will no longer be able to call on Port Authority terminals; and on January 1, 2017, all trucks hauling freight from the port must meet or exceed 2007 federal emissions standards. This gives sufficient time for trucking firms to wind down their assets, and to assist with replacement vehicles the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will offer grants and financial assistance to help cover the cost of a new truck. Information about the program and about the application process is available at the Truck Replacement Center at 1180 McLester St., Elizabeth, N.J., or online in English Here or in Spanish Here.
The Port Authority designed a $28 million program to help companies and drivers transition into cleaner vehicles. Drivers that regularly call on the Port’s marine terminals are eligible for assistance. While NY/NJ moves toward full program implementation, ATA urges port officials to continue evaluating freight volume movements and projections to insure that sufficient operational revenues are indeed available to cover the new truck purchase obligations that now will be generated by the Clean Truck plan.
Curtis Whalen, Executive Director of the Intermodal Motor Carriers Conference (IMCC) of the ATA expressed his appreciation to the leadership of the Port Authority but somewhat mitigated his organisations views by commenting on the uncertainty surrounding the entire shipping industry.
“While the stakeholder participants often did not totally agree on the program specifics, all were given the opportunity to express their views and in the end consensus was reached to move ahead with a plan to reduce emissions through a subsidized program aimed at modernizing the port’s truck drayage fleet,” he said, continuing,
“Given the continuing effects of the recession that still grips our country and this region, the Port Authorities should be sensitive to the current economic conditions, including the very uncertain levels of future freight volumes, in determining the appropriate timing for full implementation of the programme. While fully supportive of the clean air goals, the drayage industry is in a particularly vulnerable position that may counsel for a go-slow approach until the economic climate improves.”
Hopefully the changes, which all consider an essential step forward, given evidence of the harm to the health of the poorer communities who reside dockside, will proceed as scheduled. Any who doubt the veracity of this statement need look no further than the short film of Kim Thompson-Gaddy to be found within our last report on pollution in New York.
