By delivering a strong electric truck fleet standard, the California Air Resources Board has an opportunity to create tangible public health, climate and economic benefits. 

By cleaning up trucks, California can save lives.

• Living within just one third of a mile of a highway or close to ports, warehouse distribution centers or other freight corridors is devastating for lung health and can lead to early death.

• Residents living near ports, warehouses, and busy roads are exposed to such high rates of heavy-duty vehicle pollution that physicians have labeled these areas “diesel death zones” - because asthma rates and cancer risks are so drastically elevated. 

• Researchers have found the 10 percent increase in deaths nationwide was attributable to an increase in ozone pollution from 2010 to 2017.

• Diesel exhaust contains more than 40 known cancer-causing organic substances, making it responsible for about 70 percent of cancer risk related to air toxins in California.

• Freight hubs and corridors concentrate air pollution in zip codes where the median income is far lower, and the percent of people of color is far higher than the state average.

• New Harvard research found the disproportionate levels of air pollution faced by low-income communities and communities of color could make COVID-19 mortality rates worse for people in these communities.

California’s air quality is getting worse. 

• Large parts of the state are falling further out of compliance with federal clean air laws as lung-damaging ozone pollution - the main component of smog - has ticked upward in recent years. 

• Heavy-duty trucks are the largest source of smog-forming NOx in California, and emit nearly 40 percent of the state’s diesel particulate matter.

• Inland communities are now logging more than 100 bad air days a year - a level not seen in more than two decades. 

• The American Lung Association finds more than 90 percent of Californians live in areas that experience unhealthy air at some point during the year. 

• 32 of California’s 58 counties received an F grade in the American Lung Association 2019 State of the Air report for ozone pollution while another 28 counties received an F for particle pollution.

a strong standard will Help grow the market and Create Good jobs. 

• The new proposal creates more jobs and increases private investment, GSP, and grows personal income faster.

• Utilities across the state are making major investments in charging infrastructure specifically for electric trucks.

• Rebate programs already exist to help operators and fleets make the transition to zero-emission trucks. 

• Statewide training initiatives like the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program are already preparing California electricians for the shift to clean transportation technologies. 

• A report from the BlueGreen Alliance and the UC Berkeley Labor Center shows how stronger labor standards are key to getting more clean trucks on the road.

THE ELECTRIC FLEET RULE CAN ADDRESS THE SYSTEMIC EXPLOITATION OF DRIVERS.

• Over 500 Labor Commission investigations found trucking companies misclassified drivers to benefit their bottom lines with unfair labor practices. 

• Wage theft in the wake of fleet turnover at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, as mandated by the 2008 Clean Truck Program, has been extensively documented in investigative reports as “modern-day indentured servitude.”

• Misclassification continues to be the dominant model in port drayage, specifically (up to 90% of operated vehicles), and other trucking sectors such as last-mile delivery, long-haul, and specialized short-haul segments.

• Misclassified drivers earn very low wages and are forced to finance high-cost trucks to comply with state mandates and requirements, undermining clean air objectives and placing undue burdens on poverty-stricken workers.  

• The National Employment Law Project (NELP) found that by misclassifying employees, companies are able to save an estimated 30% of payroll costs by diverting fees to truck drivers. 

• As a result of the systematic barriers misclassified truck drivers face, only 61% of contracted drivers meet California’s Truck and Bus Emissions Rule (in comparison to 83% at large fleets). 

• Non-compliance of air regulations is concentrated in the contractor sector of the trucking industry. Small fleets with one to three trucks represent almost half of all non-compliant vehicles in California, despite contractors representing only one fifth of total trucks covered by the state’s Truck and Bus Emissions Rule. 

• The California Air Resources Board has been forced to spend billions of dollars to inefficiently subsidize misclassified independent contractors to adopt clean vehicles to comply with clean vehicle rules.  

• Low compliance is due to misclassified drivers being unable to afford to upgrade to cleaner, more efficient trucks. This in turn leads to higher particulate matter pollution, mainly from diesel-powered trucks, that are concentrated in communities of color where ports, railyards, and warehouses are located.

A STRONG electric truck FLEET STANDARD WILL CUT PLANET-WARMING POLLUTION. 

• Trucks and cars are the number one source of planet warming pollution in the state.

• Trucks and buses make up just 7 percent of vehicles on the road in California, but 20 percent of global warming emissions from the transportation sector.

• In Southern California alone, the number of miles driven by trucks is projected to grow by 80 percent between 2008 and 2035.

Electric trucks are here.

• Major companies have already determined that current electric truck technologies can meet their needs better than traditional diesel trucks. Companies like UPS, DHL, Pepsico have placed orders for tens of thousands of electric trucks—driven by a desire to lower operating costs and curb diesel emissions.

• In the delivery sector, current technologies - many of which have battery ranges up to 150 miles - can easily meet service needs today, as the majority of delivery trucks drive fewer than 100 miles daily.

• Electric delivery technologies are so successful that Amazon - one of the largest delivery companies in the world - is working with electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian to roll out zero-emission delivery vans in the Los Angeles area and the U.S. Postal Service is deploying electric vans in the Central Valley. 

• Vehicle manufacturers understand that electric trucks are the transportation future. Nearly all major heavy-duty truck manufacturers have already produced electric demonstration vehicles or have announced plans for commercialization—the rapidly expanding market now includes players like Nikola Motors, Rivian, Roush, Tesla, and Xos Trucks.

• The U.S. postal service announced plans earlier this year to continue purchasing gas powered vehicles - a missed opportunity that signals that companies can be slow to technology-switch even when upgrading saves money. 

• Amazon’s decision to upgrade its fleet with trucks powered with natural gas - another fossil fuel - over clean electric alternatives is also a disappointing missed opportunity, especially given that many of the company’s operations are concentrated in communities of color that suffer some of the worst impacts from fossil fuel pollution.