Emissions control has been an ongoing issue for the California state legislature for many years. Recently a new testing requirement from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) went into effect.
This requirement was effective on January 1, but drivers have until July 1 to get it completed.
It states that all non-gasoline vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) greater than 14,000 pounds, traveling in California, are subjected to what is now known as the Clean Truck Check. The Clean Truck Check is replacing the Heavy-Duty Inspection and Maintenance program.
The requirement for testing requires trucks to be tested:
- Once in 2024 to be completed by July 1, 2024.
- Twice in 2025.
- Three times in 2026.
- Four times in 2027.
Also, no trucks with engines older than 2010 are allowed to pass through California.
Naturally the CARB has a plan in place for monitoring the situation. They will use checkpoints known as pop-up roadsides. The pop-ups are equipped with a camera and exhaust gathering tubes.
At a typical pop-up roadside, one camera is set up to read license plates and a nearby tube sucks up the air coming from the passing trucks. The air, which contains exhaust, is analyzed so that the system can pick out the worst polluters. A nearby technician is alerted by seeing a “peak” on a real-time graph. He then radios officers to pull over the identified truck.
Using this process means they will focus on the worse offenders.
“One high-emitting truck can emit as much (pollution) as 60 clean trucks,” one of the CARB managers said, adding, “If something is out of repair or something has been disconnected or tampered with, the emissions can be much, much, much higher.”
Drivers can be ticketed, told to repair a deficiency or sent to a third-party tester to ensure the truck is running as cleanly as possible and there has been no tampering.
In the future, this testing may not be needed. As technology advances, truck computers will provide emission emitting data and drivers will know when something needs repairing. In the meantime, we have the CARB.
Happy trails,
Brian M.
