Gladstein, Neandross & Associates

SANTA MONICA, CA - May 2, 2008 - In perhaps the largest single air quality grant ever awarded for clean fuel LNG trucks, GNA spearheaded a successful effort to secure $11.7 million in incentive funding for the purchase and deployment of 130 dedicated LNG powered trucks.  These trucks, the cleanest ever in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, will be deployed in the drayage operation run by California Cartage Company.  Funding was secured by GNA from the South Coast AQMD and the California State Infrastructure Prop 1B Bond funding as part of the “Early Program.”  This project received more than 25% of the total state-wide Prop 1B funding made available by the California Air Resources Board.

The incentive package assembled by GNA provided $122,000 for each truck, including: $50,000 from the Prop 1B Early Program, $40,000 from South Coast AQMD and a federal U.S. EPA grant, and a $32,000 federal tax credit.  In total, GNA coordinated $15.9 million in incentives.

The 130 Sterling L Series Setback 113 LNG trucks are the cleanest trucks available in the United States.  They are powered by the Cummins Westport ISL G natural gas engine, the only engine available which meets the stringent U.S. EPA 2010 on-road emission standards of 0.2 g/bhp-hr NOx and with zero diesel particulate matter emissions.  The NOx emissions on these trucks are 6 times lower than even the most current diesel engines now available, as well as the most stringent emission standards of the ARB Port Drayage Rule and the clean truck rules of the two ports.

With this commitment from California Cartage and funding from the SCAQMD and ARB 1B Program, Sterling Trucks was able to commit to build these “clean air machines.”  Now that they are commercially available, strong interest in these trucks has already been shown from other trucking companies in the port and throughout a variety of other applications in California.

“We are extremely proud to have been able to play a role in this tremendously important project,” commented GNA’s CEO, Erik Neandross.  “This project is exactly the kind of project that the state’s Prop 1B money should be funding.  The benefits to the breathers in the San Pedro Bay Ports and Southern California will be tremendous.  The immediate near-term reductions in priority and toxic pollutants in the San Pedro Bay Harbor cannot be understated. There could not be a better project upon which to spend these 1B monies.”

In addition to the immediate local air quality benefits these trucks will bring, the greenhouse gas emissions are 20 percent lower for these trucks than new diesel trucks and therefore meet the near-term goals of AB32.  They are 100 percent fueled by domestically produced natural gas, an inherently low carbon fuel, and can thus help the State to meet the goals of both the State Alternative Fuels Plan (per A1007) and the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (established by the Governor’s Executive Order). 

“Projects like this should be at the absolute top of the list when it comes to distributing the Prop 1B funding given the wide variety of air quality and energy policy goals this project helps the state and local agencies to meet,” stated Neandross.  “This is an excellent way to come ‘out of the gates’ and set an example for the balance of the $1 billion to be spent in the years to come.”

GNA’s efforts on this project were on behalf of Los Angeles Freightliner, the largest truck dealer in the Western United States and one of the preeminent truck dealerships in the nation for low emission and alternative fuel equipment.  The $11.7 million in funding secured by GNA adds to the impressive $100 million plus in funding GNA has secured on behalf of its clients and projects.