Trucking Industry Cites ‘Significant Fatal Flaws’ with Proposed State Electrification Strategy for Medium to Heavy-Duty Trucks
OLYMPIA — Oct. 30, 2023 — Representatives of Washington State Trucking Associations (WTA) today challenged the practical, legal and technical aspects of the state’s new draft plan to reduce carbon emissions in the medium and heavy-duty trucking industry.
In a letter to the co-chairs of the state’s Electric Vehicle Council, WTA cited “significant fatal flaws” in the 2023 draft transportation electrification strategy document, which included no industry representation in the crafting of the proposed strategies.
“We have significant concerns about what has been proposed and the potential impacts this would have not just on our industry, but on the state’s entire economy. These are aspirational policies that have no grounding in reality. We are slowly building capacity for EVs in our industry, but not at the rate of what our state is proposing. The EV technology for medium and heavy-duty trucking is simply not there yet, and neither is the infrastructure to support it,” said WTA President Sheri Call. “We are talking about strategies that stand to impact our entire supply chain, which, as we have all seen during the pandemic, plays a major role in Washington’s economy. These strategies are completely unrealistic,” added Call.
“What’s perhaps even more concerning is that these recommendations were developed by the Interagency Electric Vehicle Coordinating Council, a collection of state agencies with no representation from the trucking industry,” she continued. “This is an egregious oversight that ignores the valuable – and practical – input of the very people these strategies stand to impact directly. It is hard to comprehend how the state intends to implement strategies this profound on an industry without so much as one representative in the group.”
In its evaluation of the draft strategy, WTA challenged the very underpinnings of the document, which requires “deployment of zero emission capable vehicles at a pace which is unseen in prior market transitions.” There is no zero-emission truck market in Washington state, the letter notes. What’s more, the strategies being proposed rely on charging/fueling infrastructure that does not exist to be built at a pace which is unlikely to occur:
“Despite its good intentions, the government cannot mandate products and markets into existence on the scale proposed here. This heavy-handed approach ignores market realities and limitations and assumes that there will be sufficient zero emission trucks for companies to purchase on a scale that is currently impossible and further assumes that the trucks will meet the needs of the industry. Put bluntly, wishful thinking is not a strategy.”
Read the WTA’s full response to the EV Council in the attached PDF.
About the Washington Trucking Associations
Since 1922, the Washington Trucking Associations (WTA) has served as the unified voice for the trucking industry in Washington. Member supported, WTA is dedicated to advocating sound public policies, providing excellence in education, training, and information, as well as promoting a safe, dependable, and efficient trucking industry in Washington For more information, visit www.watrucking.org.
About the Washington Trucking Associations Since 1922, the Washington Trucking Associations (WTA) has served as the unified voice for the trucking industry in Washington. Member supported, WTA is dedicated to advocating sound public policies, providing excellence in education, training, and information, as well as promoting a safe, dependable, and efficient trucking industry in Washington for more information, visit www.watrucking.org.
Contact
Sheri Call | 253.569.8310 or sheri@watrucking.org