Welcome to California: home of beaches, mountains, deserts, and of course Regulations, Reporting, and Requirements. Oh my!
As folks were ringing in the New Year, many California fleets were also wringing their hands as they juggled multiple reporting requirements for several new fleet rules in the state. And these regulations are not only for those vehicles domiciled in California. Regulations have expanded to encompass vehicles that may occasionally roll through the state, with requirements for owners, operators, brokers and hiring entities.
Fleet operators may also need to enter the same vehicle into multiple reporting systems if the vehicle is diesel, natural gas, and/or equipped with a reefer.
The responsibilities for fleet management, even for fleets without California sites, are growing rapidly with the introduction of multiple new regulations created by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). Fleets of all sizes likely feel overwhelmed by how these cascading requirements impact their operations.
Here is a rundown of how these regulations can impact vehicle replacements and purchases, vehicle maintenance, reporting, and opportunities for funding.
CARB’s landmark Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) Regulation became law in October 2023 and sets requirements to transition to zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) over the next two decades for drayage vehicles, State and Local Government Agency (SLGA) fleets, and High Priority and Federal (HPF) fleets. This historic new regulation’s impact started with reporting and procurement requirements for some fleets on Dec. 31, 2023.
Under ACF, all existing “legacy” diesel and natural gas drayage vehicles had to be registered in CARB’s reporting system before the end of 2023 to continue operation in California ports and intermodal railyards. As of Jan. 1, 2024, zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) are the only vehicles allowed to be added into California drayage operations. HPF fleets can either phase-in ZEVs following CARB’s percentage-of-fleet targets, or commit to 100% ZEV additions into California as of Jan. 1, 2024 as they phase out existing assets. HPF includes most of the truckload (TL), less than TL (LTL), last-mile delivery (LMD), general logistics companies, and federal fleets operating in California. SLGA fleets must ensure that at least 50% of their vehicle purchase orders are ZEVs for calendar years 2024-2026, then exclusively ZEVs starting in 2027, or, alternatively, opt into the HPF phase-in percentage schedule.
