California’s Environmental Laws and a Precedent-Setting Court Decision Is Causing the Container Shipping Crisis
There is a trucking crisis at California’s ports, the Port of Los Angeles (POLA) and the Port of Long Beach (POLB), that is causing the bottleneck in supply chains because all semi tractors have to be current with new California emissions standards, or they may not operated in the state. As a consequence, that means trucks cannot be older than 3 years if they are to pick up or deliver containers at those ports. This issue especially affected fleet trucks at the ports. In addition, a court settlement, dated October 16, 2020, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced settlements with three interstate trucking companies for violating the California Air Resources Board’s federally enforceable emissions restrictions on diesel trucks to filter particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Virtually all private owner operator trucks and half of the fleet trucks that are used for moving containers across the nation have been shut out. Big businesses in the private sector, including Amazon, Walmart, UPS, FedEx, Samsung, Home Depot and Target, were aware of this problem years ago and quietly diverted shipments of their goods to other ports, to avoid the ire of environmentalists.
https://needtoknow.news/2021/10/californias-environmental-laws-and-a-precedent-setting-court-decision-is-causing-the-container-shipping-crisis/