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Oakland port grants exhausted
By Jill Dunn
One thousand truckers in California’s Port of Oakland have learned they won’t get grants to upgrade their trucks for the port’s Jan. 1 deadline, but state officials are trying to help operators obtain loans and offer career assistance.
On Oct. 6, port officials approved a program they describe as stricter than the California Air Resources Board requirements. On Jan. 1, Oakland will begin barring 1994 and earlier model years and require 1994-2002 trucks to have diesel particulate filters.
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District, which managed the grant money, said its funding was exhausted before a remaining 1,000 truckers could receive it, said Kristine Roselius, a district spokeswoman.
No more grant money is expected to be available in 2010, but “we're working very hard to help the truckers retrofit or replace their trucks through private loans,” Roselius said.
The district had provided 817 truckers with retrofit grants and 191 truckers with truck replacement grants. These funds paid for the retrofit filter and truckers paid the sales cost of $800 to $1,000.
CARB officials have indicated they may provide special stickers to truckers who receive grant contracts before Dec. 4, she said. The stickers would allow truckers to enter the port for a limited time until they get a new truck or retrofit.
Oakland port spokeswoman Marilyn Sandifur said truckers who are not seeking loans can still haul within California.
Several trucking companies are providing assistance to finance retrofits and replacements for truckers, including down payment assistance and low interest lease-to-own programs, she said.
District officials have contacted state treasurer Bill Lockyer, who is working with lending institutions to provide loans to truckers with lower credit ratings, Roselius said. The California Capital Access Program helps small businesses obtain financing. CARB has provided funding to CalCAP to make it easier for truckers to comply with the new regulations.
CalCAP may provide up to 14 percent of the cost of a retrofit or replacement device to a lender as security for a loan.
West Oakland measured triple the cancer risk of any Bay Area location and drayage truckers were identified as the key emitter of toxic diesel particulate matter, Roselius said.
In response to this, the BAAQD provided $22 million to the district’s Transportation Fund for Clean Air and stimulus funding to retrofit and replace 1,000 trucks.
District and port representatives said the following institutions were willing to make loans to truckers:
• Cascade Sierra Solutions
• City National Bank
• One California Bank
Also, Diesel Emissions Service may be able to provide loans to those with poor credit ratings; its telephone number is (530) 241-3950.
Sandifur added that the port partnered with area resources to assist with career transition services for individuals and businesses impacted by federal and state environmental requirements in the drayage industry. These include:
• The Hispanic Business Education and Training arm of the Hispanic
Chamber of Commerce, which is coordinating workforce efforts at the OT411
Center, 11 Burma Road, Oakland.
• The Oakland Workforce Investment Board, which provides free training, education and job placement.
• Alameda Transportation and Logistics Academic Support Initiative, under Peralta Community College District, which is a career training project that provides a warehousing and logistics training program in multiple career paths.
• Small Business Development Centers, which offer business management counseling and training, linkage to service providers and business planning services.
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