Washington trucking industry warns of Jan. 1 limit on new gas truck and RV sales

Washington state’s trucking industry is urging Gov. Jay Inslee to reconsider a first-of-the-year commitment to align with California’s Advanced Clean Trucks regulation, which requires a certain percentage of so-called "zero emissions" trucks to be sold in the state.

This goes back to 2020, when Washington lawmakers committed to follow California’s strict emissions mandates.

It got more critical last month when on Oct. 23, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) amended its ACT standards to require manufacturers to gradually increase the percentage of zero-emission vehicles they sell with targets from 4% to 7%.

Washington has agreed to be in lock step with the California mandates when the new changes to take effect Jan 1.

“The bill that was passed in 2020 has permanently ceded our authority unless we decide to unlink ourselves from California,” said Washington State Truckers Association CEO Sheri Call in a Thursday interview with The Center Square.

The new rules apply to large trucks and RV’s that weigh more than 8,500 pounds, with a requirement that sellers first prove they have sold a certain percentage of zero-emission vehicles, before they can sell the traditional gas- and diesel-powered rigs.

“With zero emission vehicles, we have no infrastructure and no guaranteed timeline for installment of that infrastructure,” said Call. “Along with all of the other operational challenges with battery electric vehicles for the industry, along with loss of capacity and payload, we are concluding that we either keep our old trucks running or we purchase and operate trucks from outside the state,” said Call, who noted it’s a perverse effect because the same trucks purchased outside the state will be operating in Washington, or operators will delay making a new purchase and the trucks on the road will be older.

The new rules will impact RV and motorhome sales in Washington as well.

Middle ground in the RV world is considered the Class C RV. On average, a class C will come in around 10,000 to 12,000 lbs., according to RVShare.com. Any new rig over 8,500 lbs. is subject to the new rules.

Call explained the future of electrically charged freight haulers is anyone’s guess.

“Even at a fast charge, it’s an hour-and-a-half to charge a truck, versus stopping for 20 minutes to fuel up, so it’s a huge capacity loss and on top of that, the trucks are heavier so you lose payload capacity and it’s just a non-starter for the heavy freight industry,” said Call.

“The only hope that we have given the environment we’re in is that they put a pause on implementation,” said Call. “I know that’s what other states are talking about now for at least two years, but the same problems will exist in two years, because there’s no commitment at this point from anyone to build out public electric charging stations for the commercial truck industry.”

Meantime, Call says truck sales and operations are going across the state border.

“Idaho is not too far away, and they are not a CARB adopting state and subject to these policies, so a lot of our members unfortunately who still need to serve their customers at a price competitive point, are operating from Idaho as it’s more appealing to them,” said Call.

The Trucking Association sent a letter to Gov. Inslee over the summer urging a delay.

“We feel these issues will place constraints on the industry and reduce supply chain resiliency in Washington state -- one of the most trade-driven states in the nation,” Call wrote. “We don’t have to look back too far to understand the impact of shortages of goods and medical supplies during the pandemic as a result of trucking industry labor and equipment shortages. Imagine the negative impact to affordability in our state and to any environmental gains if trucks are dispatched to Washington from further away."

The Department of Ecology responded to a request for comment via email, which said in part: 

"Manufacturers will have three years to meet the new zero emission sales targets, and they do not have to meet those targets before selling vehicles in Washington. Along with producing more zero emission or hybrid vehicles, manufacturers can also purchase credits from other companies, or pay a fine if they are unable to meet the requirements," said Deputy Communications Director Andrew Wineke via email.