Trucking stakeholders, including truck dealerships, are urging New York government officials to pause the state’s implementation of Advanced Clean Trucks, which is set to begin next year.
On Thursday, Oct. 17, the Trucking Association of New York held a webinar stating its case to delay the Empire State’s Advanced Clean Trucks rule. New stipulations requiring sales of zero-direct-emission trucks are scheduled to begin in January.
Beginning with model year 2025 trucks, Advanced Clean Trucks requires a certain percentage of sales of new trucks to be zero-emission vehicles. That percentage increases every year through model year 2035. The new rule will eventually require 40% of new Class 7-8 tractor sales to be zero-emission trucks. That percentage skyrockets to 75% for other Class 4-8 vehicles.
Model Year | Class 2b-3 | Class 4-8 | Class 7-8 Tractors |
2025 | 7% | 11% | 7% |
2026 | 10% | 13% | 10% |
2027 | 15% | 20% | 15% |
2028 | 20% | 30% | 20% |
2029 | 25% | 40% | 25% |
2030 | 30% | 50% | 30% |
2031 | 35% | 55% | 35% |
2032 | 40% | 60% | 40% |
2033 | 45% | 65% | 40% |
2034 | 50% | 70% | 40% |
2035 and beyond | 55% | 75% | 40% |
However, trucking stakeholders are calling for an immediate delay of Advanced Clean Trucks, claiming the above sales targets are not feasible.
Trucking Association of New York President Kendra Hems pointed out that an average of 4,000 Class 8 trucks are registered in New York each year. Starting next year, 7% of those, or 280 trucks, will need to be zero-emission trucks. To date, fewer than 40 Class 7-8 zero-emission trucks have been registered in the state, according to Hems.
“(The association) fully supports the adoption and the use of zero-emission vehicles, including the use of electric where it makes sense,” Hems said. “However, this policy places a mandate on our truck dealers in New York to try and sell vehicles to an industry that currently has very limited applications for their use, making it impossible to meet the goals of the regulation. It’s not that they don’t want to comply. They simply can’t comply.”
Chuck Burr, president of Vestal, N.Y.-based Burr Truck, has been in front of zero-emission truck adoption. The truck sales company built the first Level 3 fast-charging station in Broome County, which it made publicly available due to a charging shortage. The company sold one of New York’s 31 Class 8 electric trucks currently in operation. However, Burr said Advanced Clean Trucks is too much too soon and could drive him out of business.
“We are aligned with the New York State goals to achieve zero emissions by 2040,” Burr said. “But for the first time in my 31-year career, I’m questioning if our company will survive the rules … and be here to see the path to 2040 unfold.”
Mark Stone, director of sales at Burr Truck, said that for every eight diesel trucks he sells, the company will have to sell one electric truck first. Burr Truck currently has diesel truck orders for 2025 that it cannot fulfill if legislation does not change. He is asking for a two-year pause on Advanced Clean Trucks.
One barrier to the adoption of electric trucks is the lack of charging infrastructure.
Since New York adopted Advanced Clean Trucks in 2021, the state has not installed a single publicly available heavy-duty charger, according to Hems.
Tom Heiland, president of Utica Mack, noted that the state is investing $450 million in its 27 service plazas along the New York State Thruway, including 130 charging stations for passenger vehicles. But how many charging stations for electric trucks? Zero.
Barry Carr, coalition director of Clean Communities of Central New York, pointed out that although New York has plans to create commercial charging hubs, those are at least two to three years away. Carr acknowledged that electric models are feasible for passenger vehicles but are “numbers of years away” from commercial viability for everyone.
“I think the clean truck rule is extremely well-intentioned,” Carr said. “California, I think, is doing the right thing, and it’s had a lot more money and incentive money to deal with things. But as you’ve heard, even they can’t keep up with this.”
There appears to be some support in the New York legislature to delay the implementation of Advanced Clean Trucks.
Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, D-Binghamton, said she plans to continue the conversation when the state legislative session convenes in January. She also said lawmakers are committed to the state’s climate goals but need to be more realistic about how they aim to achieve them.
“We have to make sure that our timelines match the reality of what’s going on on the ground,” Lupardo added. “I have enormous respect for the transportation industry and all of the other industries that are affected by the transitions that we’re trying to make. But unless we can honor the reality that they’re facing and put in place something that will work, we’re only going to be going around in circles.”
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 10 states have adopted California’s Advanced Clean Trucks rule, including Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington state.
Some states have modified the rule to include a later launch date. For example, in Colorado, Maryland and Rhode Island, the rule is not set to kick in until model year 2027.
But several other states that have adopted Advanced Clean Trucks are scheduled to begin enforcement next year. Among these is Washington, and in August, the Washington State Trucking Association urged the state government to pull the plug on the rule.
Advanced Clean Trucks is currently being challenged in federal court. Last November, 19 state attorneys general and a coalition of stakeholders, including the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, filed a petition in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit claiming the rule is unconstitutional. That case is still pending. LL
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