Ports of LA, Long Beach agree to invest in truck charging infrastructure

The Los Angeles and Long Beach harbor commissions voted this week to collectively provide $25 million in a partnership with regional air quality agencies to jump-start charging infrastructure for electric heavy-duty drayage trucks.

The $135 million in projects — led by the Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee — will install up to 207 charging units at eight sites around Southern California. Sites include Wilmington, Rancho Dominguez, Rialto, Fontana, Commerce and the Port of Long Beach.

The Long Beach harbor commissioners approved the project on Monday, June 24, and the Los Angeles commissioners approved the item on Thursday, June 27. It will be administered by the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

The two ports will allocate some $12.5 million each from their respective Clean Truck Funds to contribute to the plan. More than 23,000 trucks work in the harbor

“We’re investing with our Clean Truck Fund to get both zero-emission trucks and infrastructure on the street as quickly as possible,” said Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka.

Port of Long Beach CEO Mario Cordero agreed.

“The investment potential provided by the Clean Truck Fund rate is a key to our air quality efforts,” Cordero said. “These projects with our partners shows the program is working as designated and demonstrates zero-emissions goods movement is not a buzz phrase here in San Pedro Bay but a goal we make progress toward every day.”

The Port of LA, Seroka said, is also partnering with the state of California to offer vouchers of up to $250,000 toward the purchase of a ZE heavy-duty truck.

Asked about putting charging stations on Port of L.A. property, Seroka said long lines of trucks waiting to charge would not be a good use of port property.

“Land is at a premium,” he said, noting that “fast charging” is still some time away and the port must serve as a transit facility. “Technology may look a little different in the future, but for now we’ve got to get people in and out.”

The commissions took separate actions to approve the expenditures from the Clean Truck Fund Rate collections, which began in April 2022 at $10 per twenty-foot-equivalent unit or $20 per forty-foot equivalent unit.

The Port of Los Angeles collected about $78 million through March and the Port of Long Beach collected almost $75 million.

Los Angeles harbor Commissioner Ed Renwick also reminded colleagues at that panel’s Thursday meeting to stay on top of truck driver surveys to make sure none are getting charged behind the scenes for the truck fund, which is to be paid by cargo owners. Truck drivers make an average of about $52,000 a year and most support families, according to earlier surveys, which Renwick said fits into a “working poor” category in California.

The Clean Truck Fund rate is part of the port’s efforts to transition to a zero-emissions truck fleet by 2035, a goal established by the Clean Air Action Plan adopted by both ports.