That quote has been attributed to everyone from Jack Dempsey to Vince Lombardi. But it came to mind while reading a recent news release from CARB – publicly naming companies in violation of CARB requirements and their payments for fines.
In case you have not seen it, CARB is actively publishing the fines it has assessed on various businesses for non-compliance with CARB mandates. Their most recent announcement notes a total of $383,000 in fine payments during the third quarter of 2011.
Whether you agree with the new CARB requirements or not, it is becoming abundantly clear that they are going to be taking enforcement very seriously. This public naming of CARB violators and penalties could negatively affect perception of fleets and even their fiscal status (depending upon size of the fine payments).
This is why the “best defense” for CARB compliance is a “good offense”. By this time, fleets need to be proactively educating themselves about CARB requirements for their equipment and aggressively evaluating CARB-verified systems to bring them into compliance.
Passively “playing defense” and waiting for CARB to start enforcement will likely be the strategy for some fleets, but it will be a very costly strategy…
If you’d like to stay informed about CARB news and how it may affect your fleet, please subscribe to this blog. If you have specific questions about CARB topics, please feel free to visit www.CARBcompliance.info or contact me via email.
