A study presented today to Port commissioners shows that 90 percent of the heavy-duty trucks serving terminals meet the Port of Tacoma’s 2010 clean truck standards.
That’s 4 percent more trucks than a year ago.
The Port of Tacoma Clean Truck Program’s 2010 standards, aimed at reducing port-related diesel particulate emissions, require trucks to have 1994 model year engines or newer.
Clean air goals were adopted in early 2008 as part of the ground-breaking Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy, a partnership among the Port of Tacoma, Port of Seattle and Port Metro Vancouver, B.C. The strategy outlines jointly established short- and long-term clean air goals for ships, cargo-handling equipment, rail, trucks and harbor craft.
In 2009, the Port of Tacoma launched its clean truck program, adopting the regional strategy’s goals as standards.
The Port of Tacoma’s recent truck study captured about 3,100 short-haul, commonly called drayage, trucks that regularly serve terminals on the Tacoma Tideflats. Study results show:
- 90 percent of the trucks are model year 1994 or newer, meeting the Port’s 2010 clean truck standards. That’s 4 percent more than last year.
- About 6 percent meet the 2015 standard of model year 2007 or newer. That’s 2 percent more than last year.
- Newer trucks are replacing older trucks.
- Newer, cleaner trucks visit terminals more often than older, dirtier trucks, reducing overall emissions even more.
The Port of Tacoma’s Clean Truck Program uses a market-based approach to convert its drayage fleet to cleaner trucks.
The Port has identified several pre-qualified drayage trucking companies and owners/contractors that meet its clean truck standards—with three already meeting the 2015 standards. This pre-qualified list highlights firms that comply with the program standards and are partners in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's SmartWay program.
This pre-qualified list is available on the Port’s Web site to importers, exporters, beneficial cargo owners and shipping lines interested in hiring green fleets to haul their cargo.
The Port continues to work cooperatively with customers, tenants, and air and environmental regulatory agencies to make port operations cleaner and safer for workers and neighbors.
About the Port of Tacoma
The Port of Tacoma is an economic engine for South Puget Sound, with more than 43,000 family-wage jobs in Pierce County and 113,000 jobs across Washington state connected to Port activities. A major gateway to Asia and Alaska, the Port of Tacoma is among the largest container ports in North America. The Port is also a major center for bulk, breakbulk and project/heavy-lift cargoes, as well as automobiles and trucks.
Contact: Tara Mattina, Port of Tacoma, (253) 428-8674