Port of Oakland Issuing Funds for Truck Emissions Systems

More than 1,500 truckers at the Port of Oakland, Calif., have applied for 1,000 subsidies to retrofit their trucks to reduce emissions, the San Francisco Business Times reported Monday.

The money, which is coming from the port, state bond proceeds and the local air quality management district, is part of a broader effort at the port to clean up exhaust from trucks, ships and other equipment, the paper reported.

But the program could be slowed if truckers can’t come up with $9,000 to pay for the systems, which can run to $24,000. The subsidies per truck go as high as $15,000, the Business Times said.

About 90% of the approximately 2,500 trucks that serve the port are driven by independent operators, the paper said.

Port officials said they do not yet know how many trucks might have trouble covering the remaining costs, which will become clearer after the Bay Area Air Quality Management District begins approving applications and funds begin getting disbursed in October, the paper reported.