Gateway Program Extends Truck Replacement Plan

The Gateway Cities Clean Air Program – a collaborative effort on the part of cities located in the Los Angeles basin – has awarded development firm Tiax LLC a $477,000, 15-month contract extension to continue the replacement of heavy-duty trucks in the Los Angeles area with newer, lower-emission vehicles.

Since August of 2002, Tiax has been responsible for coordinating the replacement of approximately 250 heavy-duty trucks under a multi-phased, $1.2-million contract from the Clean Air Program. Over the next year, Tiax said it expects that about 100 more of these older, high-emitting heavy-duty trucks will be replaced. Collectively, truckers who use these vehicles make tens of thousands of trips to and from the two major container ports in the region, Los Angeles and Long Beach.

The Gateway clean-air program was created to provide financial incentives to help reduce air pollution in southern California. Through the program, commercial truck owners who trade in their older diesel trucks (pre-1984) for newer models with cleaner-burning engines (1994 or newer) are partially reimbursed for the cost of the newer truck.

Tiax said truck owners who qualify receive an average grant of $20,000 to $25,000 to be used towards the purchase of a newer truck, while the old truck is destroyed. Funding comes via government agencies at the federal, state, and local levels, the Gateway group said.