Electric trucks for L.A., Long Beach ports will be financially viable as early as the 2020s projects UCLA Luskin Center report

October 3, 2019

Out of concern for the public health and climate change impacts of drayage trucks, the mayors of Los Angeles and Long Beach set a joint goal to transition the ports’ drayage trucks– which move cargo to train yards, warehouses and distribution centers – to 100% zero-emission vehicles by 2035. But a new UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation (LCI) report advocates for “an accelerated transition starting in the 2020s” because it “could be both feasible and advantageous.”

Aerial shot of a shipping yard at the Port of Long Beach. (Photo by iStock.com/halbergman)

The report was written by James Di Filippo, program lead for LCI’s transportation program, Colleen Callahan, LCI deputy director, and LCI Graduate Student Researcher, Naseem Golestani. The report was funded by a partnership grant from California’s Strategic Growth Council, and members of the Trade, Health and Environmental Impact Project (THE Impact Project).

Read more about the report.