Results tagged “trucks”

Two to three hundred truckers are currently making their way up the 710 Freeway towards city hall in protest of "new environmental fees at the ports that they say threaten their livelihoods," according to the LA Times [Update: they have arrived to downtown]. Specially, they are protesting container fees for the Clean Truck Program, which has been law for over a year.

After years of lawsuits against the Bush Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency today granted California the permission it wanted to impose strict emissions regulations on cars sold in the state. By 2016, fuel economy in cars and trucks sold in the state will need to have an average of 35.5 miles per gallon, a reduction of 40%.

Work to restore truck arresters to their original function after a deadly crash last month began today, announced Caltrans. On April 1st, a truck barreled down Angeles Crest Highway (SR-2) through a red light in La Canada Flintridge, crashing into several cars, injuring 12 and leaving a father and daughter dead. "This project will restore the truck arresters to their original function and enhance safety on SR-2," the state agency said in a news release. "The arresters, located in the median, are designed to enable vehicles experiencing braking problems on the highway’s 7 percent grade to slow and stop." Prior to the April crash, the community had been advocating for safety improvements after a similar incident last year that destroyed seven cars and injured one person. The project should be completed in June; crews will work weekdays between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. One lane in each direction of the four-lane highway will be closed during construction.

With around 84% of all cancer risk from air pollution due to diesel exhaust, the Port of Los Angeles Clean Truck Program began today immediately banning 2,000 trucks made before 1989. And By 2012, the new law will ban any truck that doesn’t meet the cleanest 2007 emission standards, ultimately taking 16,000 dirty-diesel trucks off the road. The trucking industry fought the plan saying it would "place an unconstitutional and unfair economic burden on port truckers." Compliance checks were in order today but cargo was reportedly moving smoothly.

A multi-year study conducted by the South Coast Air Quality Management District has found that cancer risk from air pollution is down overall by 8 percent. However, some areas of the region have an increased risk.

LAist Featured Photos contributor Michael Zara, aka monkeytime, took this photo on Main Street in Santa Monica and makes an interesting observation: