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Powered by small business owners and union workers alike, the trucking industry is on a collision course with the Democrat Party over federal and local efforts to phase out diesel rigs and push the shipping industry to electric vehicles. The latest strike came a few weeks ago when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed new tailpipe emissions goals that could require up to two-thirds of new vehciles sold in the U.S. by 2032 to be battery-powered electric vehicles. A top executive of one of the country’s largest trucking companies declared Tuesday that EPA's proposed new regulations on carbon emission are...

California regulators on Friday voted to ban the sale of new diesel big rigs by 2036 and require all trucks to be zero-emissions by 2042, a decision that puts the state at the forefront of mitigating national tailpipe pollution. The California Air Resources Board unanimously approved the Advanced Clean Fleets rule, the state's second zero-emissions trucks rule and first in the world to require new commercial trucks, including garbage trucks, delivery trucks and other medium and heavy-duty vehicles, to be electric. Supporters of the rule say it will improve public health in marginalized communities that have endured polluted air while...

California is taking action to curb locomotive emissions operating within its borders as part of the state's sweeping climate agenda. On Thursday, the California Air Resource Board (CARB), a state agency tasked with protecting air quality and reducing harmful pollution, announced that it would pursue aggressive regulations to limit freight train emissions. The so-called In-Use Locomotive Regulation makes California the first state to tackle freight train emissions which represent just 0.5% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to federal data.

44 Marisa Gerber, Ronald D. White Fri, April 7, 2023 at 2:07 PM EDT·5 min read Long Beach, CA - February 17: An aerial view of the Port of Long Beach at dusk Friday, Feb. 17, 2023. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) A dockworker shortage at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach stretched into its second day Friday, halting cargo traffic at the massive port complex. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) A dockworker shortage at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports stretched into its second day on Friday, halting cargo traffic at the...

Nearly all container terminals at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles are closed after union workers failed to show up to work, officials said. The work stoppage comes in the midst of labor negotiations between one of the state’s most powerful unions, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, and their employers, represented by the Pacific Maritime Association. In LA, all seven container terminals were closed Friday, port officials said in an email to the Business Journal. In Long Beach, meanwhile, officials told the Business Journal four out of six terminals are closed, including International Transportation Service on Pier...

California is rich in natural resources which once powered the state: natural gas deposits in the Monterey Shale formation; geothermal energy, abundant rivers and waterways such as the San Joaquin River Delta and hydroelectric dams; the Pacific coastline; 85 million acres of wildlands with 17 million of those used as commercial timberland; mines and mineral resources, vast farming and agricultural lands, and hunting and fishing. Despite this abundance, in June 2020 the California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved regulations to require automakers to sell more electric commercial trucks, with the ultimate goal of all new trucks sold in rather state...

Unfortunately, this is not an April Fools’ joke. The U.S. House Select Committee on the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) announced on April 1 that Chinese-owned firms make 80% of U.S. ports’ cargo cranes. The CCP also controls about 90% of the world’s rare earth processing — and rare earths are essential to all the electronic devices and chips upon which we depend. That’s a lot of control the CCP has over the American economy as it becomes ever more hostile to America. Chinese-owned firms make 80% of cargo cranes at American ports. On Friday, Chairman @RepGallagher and @RepCarlos explored this...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The Biden administration cleared the way Friday for California’s plan to phase out a wide range of diesel-powered trucks, part of the state’s efforts to drastically cut planet-warming emissions and improve air quality in heavy-traffic areas like ports along the coast. The decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency allows California — which has some of the nation’s worst air pollution — to require truck manufacturers to sell an increasing number of zero-emission trucks over the next couple of decades. The rule applies to a wide range of trucks including box trucks, semitrailers and even large...

The Biden administration will approve new California rules to cut tailpipe pollution and phase out sales of diesel-burning trucks, according to three people briefed on the plans, a move that could jump-start the nation’s transition to electric-powered trucks and help communities harmed by diesel pollution.

" News / Exclusive: U.S. Officials Address 'Asymmetric Warfare' In Recent Train Derailments Many of the accidents are happening along a key DoD railway corridor known as 'STRACNET' Published: March 08, 2023 | By Adrian Norman The United States has recently experienced numerous high-profile incidents involving the destruction of critical infrastructure, including fires at warehouses and food processing plants, and other events impacting the nation’s food, water and energy assets. A primary concern for many are train derailments across the U.S., some of which have resulted in ecological damage to surrounding areas, killing animals and contaminating the water supply. Such...

Smaller trucking businesses are feeling financial pressure after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released new standards for semi-trucks to lower air pollution. Andrew John of the John N John Trucking Company warned that the costs associated with the new standards could kill many mom-and-pop trucking businesses. ... They go out of business, and we all know how important mall businesses are to the economy." For the first time in two decades, the EPA released new standards that are 80% stronger than current ones and require semi-trucks to cut harmful nitrogen oxide pollution. ... The EPA estimates the new requirements could...

Environmentalists may have cheered when President Biden pulled the plug on the Keystone XL pipeline, but his decision is sparking concerns of a greater calamity down the tracks as the risks associated with transporting Canadian crude oil by rail start to pile up….

ATLANTA – The Georgia Ports Authority handled a record 5.9 million twenty-foot equivalent container units (TEUs) of cargo during the last calendar year, an increase of 5% over 2021. The Port of Savannah achieved four of its top five months for container volume during the year, peaking in August with an all-time high of 575,500 TEUs. “It was a challenging year, but collaborative effort across Georgia’s supply chain ensured cargo movement remained fluid,” said Griff Lynch, the authority’s executive director. “I want to thank our board for approving new infrastructure that allowed us to handle more cargo.”

As Covid infections surge across China, the U.S. again risks falling short of medical supplies as that country struggles to keep factories running and goods flowing out of its ports. U.S. hospitals, health care companies and federal officials worked to lessen their dependence on China for medical goods after the first wave of Covid infections in 2020 laid bare the major role China plays in manufacturing such crucial items as masks, latex gloves and surgical gowns, along with the key drugs and components in many medical devices. Those efforts over the past three years are expected to be tested in...

Do you remember way back in November when we were teetering on the edge of running out of diesel fuel? Thankfully, reduced demand and some temporary increases from our remaining refineries pushed off that crisis for a while. But it was an important reminder that the nation’s supply chain still runs almost entirely on diesel and if we run out, no products will be moving anywhere for a while. Out in California this month they’re looking at a different but related crisis. Instead of a shortage of fuel, the state will be looking at a shortage of trucks. All tractor-trailers...

The final rule in a set of regulations adopted 15 years ago takes effect this week, banning some 70,000 big rigs from California roads. A set of clean air regulations implemented by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in 2008, and later signed into law as Senate Bill 1, states that any diesel vehicles weighing over 14,000 pounds and built before 2010 are banned from operating on California roads as of Jan. 1, 2023.

Almost 15 years ago, California’s Air Resources Board, known as “CARB”, passed a set of clean air regulations with assigned dates for implementation. Of those emissions rulings, the last to go into effect hits the trucking and bus industry the hardest, going into effect on January 1, 2023. It bans large trucks and buses built before 2010 from California roads. At the end of December 2022, CARB estimated that there are 200,000 trucks and busses that it applies to. These are 14,000 lb and heavier vehicles that can no longer be driven in California. It estimates that number represents 10%...

A national freight rail strike is viewed as increasingly inevitable as four rail worker labor unions have rejected a tentative agreement with rail companies. In September, Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh brokered a tentative deal between rail unions and rail carriers while President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg were out of town. Union concerns centered around sick time and scheduling, and Walsh’s work appeared to have avoided a strike that had the potential for far-reaching consequences on the American economy. However, the deal has fallen to pieces, and the clock is ticking as a December 9 strike looms.

Wisconsin Rep. Bryan Steil says that the economy could take a dual hit after the election if diesel shortages persist and rail unions strike as promised. In September, rail workers threatened to strike after the election if they could not agree to a new contract with railroad companies, which would result in substantial problems for the U.S. economy and its already challenged supply chain. "It's incredibly concerning," Steil said Tuesday on the "Just the News, No Noise" TV show. "We got to remember this is just weeks after President Biden told us that he had this all under control, and...

1.) We have 25 days of diesel fuel left. 2.) Biden has failed to come to an agreement with rail workers’ unions, and a strike could start as soon as November 19th. ... If we actually run out of diesel fuel, the result on our supply chain would be catastrophic. We could expect shelves to empty and cargo ships to divert from America to places that have a better chance of delivering the goods. What’s more, prices would skyrocket on any good that has to be transported – which is basically all of them. If you can find it at...