Industry leaders and local representatives are calling on New York Governor Kathy Hochul to pump the brakes on impending regulations on trucks.
The Advanced Clean Truck regulations are set to go into effect in 2025 and would require a percentage of new trucks sold in New York to be zero-emission vehicles. The percentage required grows gradually through the following decade and beyond.
The rules were adopted by the state Department of Environmental Conservation in 2021. But stakeholders gathered for a Trucking Association of New York press conference Monday in Cohoes contend the timeline is not realistic and poses a significant risk to the trucking industry in the state.
Speaking in the S.M. Gallivan parking lot, Democratic state Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner of the 113th district said there’s more work to be done before the regulations take effect.
“We have to put the infrastructure in place that makes this possible to make a transition and we need to start thinking about what can we do in the interim to lower emissions. And shifting the rule to include clean diesel, a bio-fuel alternative, is one way to both stay on course with our goal, and yet be responsive to the conditions on the ground,” said Woerner.
The pandemic and war in Ukraine have strained supply chains and raised energy costs, and Democratic state Assemblywoman Pat Fahy of the 109th district said it’s vital to balance the needs of New York’s economy with the state’s climate goals.
“We know that we can make progress here, because when you add in operating costs, especially with cars, there's already a very comparable they're quite comparable in costs. But the bottom line is, we are not there yet. We're not there,” said Fahy.
Fahy, a state Senate candidate who sits on both the Transportation and Environmental Conservation Committees, noted that Massachusetts has already delayed similar regulations and New Jersey representatives have introduced a bill to do the same.
The group is asking that the rules be delayed until 2027, when federal regulations will begin to mandate the same changes nationwide.
A spokesperson for the governor referred a request for comment to the DEC.
Reached for comment, a spokesperson says the DEC is communicating with stakeholders and providing manufacturers flexibility in implementing the original rule, adding "DEC will also be proposing new regulations that include more flexibilities and would not require compliance determinations until March 2029."
“The EV truck that we have here today is around $500,000 compared to similar-in-spec diesel truck, which ranges from $150-$200,000 while there are grants available to offset the cost of these trucks, there are numerous stipulations that make it challenging for our customers to even qualify,” said Dimmick.
Kaitlin Dimmick is a co-owner of Dimmick Group Peterbilt, a truck dealership and service provider.
“These EV tractors are about 10,000 pounds heavier than their diesel counterparts, and there's currently only a 2000-pound weight allowance for EV tractors. This makes it difficult to convince our customers to switch to EVs when the diesel trucks offer a range of 800 to over 1000 miles, and can be refueled in about 30 minutes. In contrast, the EV trucks have a range of 150 miles, and that's only under ideal weather conditions, which in the Northeast is definitely not always the case,” said Dimmick.
Without existing infrastructure to rapidly charge zero-emission trucks, Republican Colonie Supervisor Peter Crummey says moving forward with the ACT regulations poses potential public safety risks.
“And when we have a 24-hour storm in the Town of Colonie, our trucks are covering the 331 miles of town roads up and down both ways twice, that’s nearly 1,400 miles our trucks are each doing in a storm. This is not going to happen with plug-ins,” said Crummey.
Speaking with WAMC, Trucking Association of New York President Kendra Hems says the regulations are poised to hurt all levels of the trucking industry and ultimately raise prices for consumers.
“And in your typical tractor trailer operation there’s no way we’d meet the standard in 2025 in large part as was discussed today, the lack of infrastructure, the cost of the vehicle, and even the capacity of the electric grid to support the charging bays. So particularly at the dealership level, they’re very concerned about jobs. Many of our dealers across New York are family-owned. They’ve been in business 30 years, 50 years and they’re very concerned at this point with this rule whether or not they’re going to be able to continue to stay in operation, so it’s a very real concern,” said Hems.