CARB TRU Broker Amendment
California Air Resources Board (CARB) TRU Broker Amendments:
**TIA Comments to the California Air Resources Board
10/25/2011
California Air Resources Board Passes Proposed Broker Amendment
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has passed the proposed amendments to the Transport Refrigeration Unit (TRU) Airborne Toxic Control Measure (ATCM). The requirement will take effect on January 1, 2013.
The board accepted the CARB staff proposed “broker” amendment that requires brokers, shippers, and receivers to dispatch or contract with only compliant TRUs. Their staff report states the need for the amendment was in order to improve compliance rates, which have dropped from 81% to 31%. The staff contributes the decrease in compliance in part to brokers, shippers, and receivers hiring non-compliant carriers.
TIA staff and members have worked with CARB staff to ensure that due diligence guidance that would remove the responsibility from brokers, shippers, and receivers, is developed and implemented before the requirement goes into effect. The CARB staff is currently drafting the guidance document, but has indicated that adding contract language to your contracts with carriers, stating their equipment must be CARB-compliant will be one of the requirements.
If you have any questions please contact Chris Burroughs at burroughs@tianet.org or (703) 299-5705.
What is the amendment?
CARB is proposing to hold shippers, brokers, and receivers responsible for using CARB compliant refrigerated units and carriers when loads originate, deliver, or travel on a Californian highway. CARB requires these refrigerated units to be newer or have retrofitted equipment to meet strict emissions guidelines. Furthermore, the shippers, brokers, and receivers can be subject to fines for using or arranging for a non-CARB compliant carrier to transport their freight. The fine amount is a bit hazy now, but staff has told us that it will likely be around $1,000 per occurrence. In addition, CARB has proposed that all parties’ names and contact information represented by the load be given to the driver, so enforcement authorities will know who is liable for fines and penalties.
Proponents of the amendment
Air quality in California has been deemed “out of attainment” by the Federal Environmental Protection Agency. In response, the CARB office has placed strict rules around dray/port operations, refrigerated trucking operations, and general trucking operations in order to combat the poor air quality. According to the CARB staff, compliant carriers have expressed their frustration to staff about this unfair competition and about seeing many noncompliant TRUs at loading docks. Compliant fleets and their trade associations have requested that staff add requirements for brokers, freight forwarders, shippers, and receivers, which would require them to only hire or contract with compliant carriers.
Possible Impact
The amendment will require shippers and brokers to screen much more stringently than they currently do for CARB compliant refrigerated carriers. Furthermore, shippers and brokers may be subject to fines up to $1,000 if they use or contract a noncompliant carrier. If the amendment is successful in increasing compliance and reducing emissions, the CARB board could propose similar amendments that will include dry van carriers.
If you have any questions please contact Chris Burroughs at burroughs@tianet.org or 703-299-5705.