Businesses, investors welcome new EPA emissions standards for large trucks and heavy-duty vehicles

Major businesses and investors welcome the heavy-duty vehicle emissions standard unveiled today by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which is projected to have vast economic, climate, and public health benefits by spurring the sale of clean large trucks and other vehicles across the U.S. 

“As a nationwide fleet provider, Merchants Fleet is proud of the role we are playing in helping businesses across the U.S. shift to cutting-edge technologies and cleaner vehicles,” said Hari Nayar, vice president of electrification and sustainability at Merchants Fleet. “Stronger emissions standards will help spur growth in the market for zero-emission trucks, allow us to responsibly serve our clients, and ensure that businesses across the economy can experience the many benefits of cleaner vehicles — including strong performance and lower fuel and maintenance costs.” 

“As a nationwide fleet provider, Merchants Fleet is proud of the role we are playing in helping businesses across the U.S. shift to cutting-edge technologies and cleaner vehicles,” said Hari Nayar, vice president of electrification and sustainability at Merchants Fleet. “Stronger emissions standards will help spur growth in the market for zero-emission trucks, allow us to responsibly serve our clients, and ensure that businesses across the economy can experience the many benefits of cleaner vehicles — including strong performance and lower fuel and maintenance costs.” 

“Impax Asset Management has long recognized the significant financial and economic benefits that will arise from a shift to cleaner vehicles across company supply chains,” said Julie Gorte, senior vice president, sustainable investing, Impax Asset Management. “We support the EPA’s stronger emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles, because they will help unlock opportunities across the transportation industry while reducing the financial risks of climate change.”  

“We are at a crossroads of clean energy transportation in the United States, and as a leading manufacturer of all electric medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, Lion Electric recognizes the Environmental Protection Agency for implementing the most stringent Greenhouse Gas Emissions standards in modern U.S. history” said Nate Baguio, senior vice president of commercial development, Lion Electric. “Setting strict GHG guidelines for heavy-duty vehicles is a critical step forward towards improving public health, strengthening the country’s clean energy manufacturing & transportation economy, and safeguarding national security.” 

“My career in energy has been characterized by achieving massive cost decreases through scale. With this announcement, we look forward to supporting a freight industry that can deliver the goods without the emissions, at lower costs for all,” said Matt LeDucq, CEO, Forum Mobility. 

“As the owner of 4 Gen Logistics, a California-based drayage provider, and Duncan and Son Lines, an 80+ year-old company, I fully support the EPA’s heavy-duty vehicle phase 3 GHG standards to transition to zero-emission trucks quicker. Four years ago, we boldly stated that 4 Gen would be the first large North American drayage company to have a 100% zero-emission fleet, accomplished by the end of 2025.  This will eliminate our use of diesel internal combustion engines a decade before the CARB regulations come into effect,” said David Duncan, vice president operations, Duncan and Son, and principal, 4 Gen Logistics. “We are on track to achieve this goal with 70 zero-emission drayage trucks in service today and more arriving next year.  In addition, we are constructing 90 high-power charging stations within our premises. We are proud of the work accomplished so far.  Our partners and funding from Electrify America, the Port of Long Beach, CARB, AQMD, MSRC, and CALSTART make the transition possible. With four generations of experience in the drayage trucking industry, our family is committed to aggressively pursuing a fully zero-emission fleet for the fifth generation of Duncans. Our objective is to ensure a cleaner and healthier future for our dedicated employees, respected customers, and the public at large.”  

The new emissions standards, covering model years 2027 – 2032, are expected to reduce carbon pollution from large trucks and other heavy-duty vehicles by avoiding 1 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases from 2027 through 2055, generating $13 billion in net annualized benefits through 2055 to the U.S. It comes a week after the EPA finalized its emissions standard for light- and medium-duty vehicles such as cars, SUVs, and pickup trucks, which are projected to spur zero-emission models to about two-thirds of new vehicle sales by 2032. 

The final heavy-duty standards set a predictable national baseline that will expand access to clean trucks, boost domestic manufacturing of zero-emission vehicles and their batteries, and guide companies across the economy toward cleaner fleets. They will significantly reduce pollution from transportation, the leading source of global greenhouse gas emissions. 

As businesses increasingly seek clean vehicles to reduce pollution across their supply chains and lower fuel and maintenance costs, Ceres, CALSTART, and other partners have worked to organize corporate advocacy for policies that support these goals, including stronger EPA emissions standards. 

More than 60 companies and investors — including Avocado Green Brands, Enel North America, Friends Fiduciary Corporation, Hackensack Meridian Health, IKEA, Lion Electric, Lucid, New Belgium Brewing, Nestlé, Siemens, Sierra Nevada Brewing, Snowsports Industries of America, Workhorse, and Zevin Asset Management — signed a letter last year calling for strong EPA standards for all classes of vehicles. 

“Transportation is the largest source of [greenhouse gas] emissions in the U.S. and represents a substantial component of our companies’ and portfolios’ carbon footprint. By enacting strong vehicle emissions standards that require vehicle manufacturers to produce increasingly efficient and clean vehicles and drive the electrification of the sector, EPA will help ensure the availability of the vehicles needed by companies to cut operating costs, reduce emissions consistent with our climate goals, and support healthy communities for our customers and employees,” the signatories wrote in the letter to the EPA. 

The Corporate Electric Vehicle Alliance, which is led by Ceres and made up of 33 businesses working to increase electric vehicle availability to scale companies’ clean fleets, also called on the EPA to pass the strongest possible vehicle emission standards. Reducing emissions from the transportation sector is critical to the Ceres Ambition 2030 initiative, which aims to decarbonize six of the highest emitting sectors in the U.S. 

Since they were proposed in April 2023, CALSTART has been strongly supportive of ambitious vehicle standards for heavy-duty vehicles, spearheading advocacy efforts, organizing stakeholder meetings with private-sector leaders, and building industry knowledge and support, as well as authoring a white paper underscoring pathways to building out advanced levels of charging infrastructure. 

Businesses and investors have also been essential advocates for federal policies to expand access to zero-emission trucks and the availability of charging infrastructure through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. And they have been essential supporters for state policies to expand zero-emission vehicle sales, like the Advanced Clean Trucks rules. 

“The EPA’s new heavy-duty vehicle standards mark real progress in reducing transportation-related pollution to save lives and improve air quality across the country, especially in communities located near highways and busy roads. They will also bring significant economic benefits by ensuring America remains at the forefront of the global transition to cleaner fleets, freight, and supply chains, and position the U.S. to attract investment in building and deploying clean vehicles and infrastructure,” said Michael Kodransky, senior director of transportation at Ceres. “Ceres has seen first-hand that commercial fleet owners and operators are eager to shift to zero-emission vehicles at an accelerated rate, and we look forward to working with leaders in both the public and private sectors to ensure this transition happens at the pace and scale that our climate and economy demand.” 

“EPA’s new heavy-duty vehicle standards represent a step toward reducing emissions and advancing the transition to zero-emission freight, providing a necessary signal for investment in charging infrastructure and bolstering U.S. manufacturing to meet 2030 climate goals,” said John Boesel, CEO of CALSTART. "This regulation will spur investment and innovation that will result in accelerated growth of the domestic zero- emission commercial vehicle industry. In the long term, this regulation will create and protect jobs, while making the air cleaner and healthier for all.” 

Ceres is a nonprofit organization working with the most influential capital market leaders to solve the world’s greatest sustainability challenges. Through our powerful networks and global collaborations of investors, companies, and nonprofits, we drive action and inspire equitable market-based and policy solutions throughout the economy to build a just and sustainable future. For more information, visit ceres.org and follow @CeresNews. 

A mission-driven industry organization focused on transportation decarbonization and clean air for all, CALSTART has offices in New York, Michigan, Colorado, California, Florida, and Europe. CALSTART is uniquely positioned to build the national clean transportation industry by working closely with its member companies and building on the lessons learned from the major programs it manages for the State of California. CALSTART has more than 280 member companies and manages more than $500 million in vehicle incentive and technical assistance programs in the United States.