The California Legislature has approved a bill that covers permissible weight limits for natural gas and electric battery-powered trucks.
A five-year-old California law authorizes zero and near-zero emission trucks to operate up to 82,000 pounds gross vehicle weight rating and 2,000 pounds above weight limits on the power unit. The rule is designed to account for the added weight of batteries, fuel cells and tanks.
The California rule followed a 2015 congressional act to raise the weight limit for natural gas and electric battery-powered tractor trailers to 82,000 pounds. The federal act permits states to increase the weight on interstates within their borders.
Assembly Bill 1953
The California Assembly voted unanimously Tuesday, Aug. 27, to endorse a Senate-amended bill to clarify that the power unit of a near-zero emission or zero-emission vehicle is permitted to exceed allowable gross weight limits by up to 2,000 pounds.
The bill analysis, however, points out that fleets operating up to 82,000 pounds gross vehicle weight rating on non-federally funded highways may be exposed to liability due to the way California vehicle code is currently drafted.
Assemblymember Carlos Villapudua, D-Stockton, introduced the bill. The California Trucking Association-sponsored bill, AB1953, clarifies that the maximum gross vehicle weight limit for a near-zero emission or a zero-emission vehicle is 82,000 pounds. Specifically, the added weight would be allowed on both the power unit and the gross vehicle weight rating of the tractor-trailer combination as a whole.
Villapudua wrote in a bill analysis that “AB1953 seeks to clarify existing law relating to fleets operating zero and near-zero emission vehicles.”
Supporters have pointed out there is a subtle difference in the phrasing of the federal weight limit exemption and the state exemption. They say commercial vehicle companies are concerned the difference could imply that the weight exemption is meant to apply only to the vehicle itself and not the tractor-trailer-cargo combination as a whole.
A bill analysis states “the intent of the state and federal exemption is to allow for heavier loads, so this bill rewrites existing law to clarify that ZEV and NZEV vehicle power units may weigh 2,000 pounds more than otherwise allowed up to a maximum of 82,000 pounds.”
Report findings
A report from the University of California Institute of Transportation Studies found that long haul battery electric trucks are estimated to be 5,328 pounds heavier than their diesel counterparts. Hydrogen fuel cell long haul trucks are expected to weigh 2,267 pounds more than their diesel counterparts, and natural gas trucks are estimated to weigh 500 to 2,000 pounds more than their diesel counterparts.
“The pavement damage analyses of the example state highway pavements and the county roads and urban arterials indicated that the projected changes for the implementation of alternative fuel trucks in 2030 and 2050 would cause a zero to approximately 1% increase in life reduction across all cases,” the report notes.
The bill analysis highlights that because zero-tailpipe-emission and near-zero emission trucks must carry lighter loads to comply with vehicle weight limits, the amount of money that can be generated from a single trip is decreased.
Senators approved the bill by unanimous consent. As a result, the bill next heads to the governor’s desk. LL
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