WTA - We are talking CARB in Washington
The adoption of California Air Resources Board (CARB) regulations by Washington State has sparked significant debate. Adoption of CARB’s Advanced Clean Truck (ACT) and Advanced Clean Fleet (ACF) rules place a heavier burden on Washington-based businesses compared to those in neighboring states that have not adopted similar standards. The Washington Trucking Associations expressed concerns that these regulations could increase operational costs for local businesses, potentially making them less competitive. Additionally, WTA supported a challenge by some lawmakers who argued that Washington cedes too much authority to an unelected body in another state. Read more here. Below is a candid assessment of the impact by one of our dealer groups, former WTA Board member, Steve Gordon who continues to challenge Washington’s majority party on many fronts.
CARB Impact in Washington is Being Felt Now by Truck Buyers and Dealers
By Steve Gordon, Freightliner Northwest
Before you even get to the infrastructure disaster, there are several here and now issues:
As it currently stands, there are going to be zero or close to zero Class 8 HD sales in Washington and Oregon. We CANNOT place an order until we show a documented EV sale.
Upfront cost is 2.5-3 times that of a diesel engine truck - $150k base cost for a very basic diesel, $450k for an EV. No business can afford a 3x increase in their upfront capital and pass it along to their customer. Besides the hesitancy to finance electric vehicles generally, any business is faced with OVERALL debt limits. If you were going to finance a 10 truck purchase of $15 million, there is no way the bank now says, ok, go ahead we’ll give you $45 million to buy 10 EV’s. Even if you want to comply it will force Washington companies to shrink compared to their out of state competitors.
Washington trucking companies will be at a HUGE competitive disadvantage versus out of state competitors. They have to pass along 100% of the cost increase, or they go out of business. ID, MT, UT based fleets won’t have that cost. They will take interstate business away from Washington based trucking companies. It is one of the most anti-WA business regulations ever imposed. And likewise, shippers in Washington will now pay a lot more to ship their goods across state lines if they use Washington based trucking companies. And if their product stays within the state, it will force massive inflation on consumers as the cost is passed along throughout the supply chain.
Today’s diesel trucks are much cleaner than the old ones they’re replacing, especially the ones that are pre-2010 engines. Today’s clean diesel trucks remove over 98% of all particulate matter, it would take sixty 2010 or newer diesel trucks to equal the emissions of ONE truck from the 1980’s.
With no new, cleaner trucks on the market, they’ll have to hold on to older ones longer, making the environment worse than it would have been without this stupid move in Washington to follow CARB’s lead.
To summarize:
· The vehicles are prohibitively expensive
· Adopting CARB regulation harms Washington-based businesses at the expense of surrounding states
· The regulations harm Washington’s environment through its perverse outcome of encouraging longer use of old trucks
Regards,
Sheri Call | President & CEO
Washington Trucking Association