Friday, April 20, 2012

CARB Plays Both Ends to the Middle


Recently, I was reminded that truck owners and fleets aren’t the only ones held responsible for emissions compliance. CARB legislation also stipulates responsibility to be incurred by the entire supply chain - including brokers, dispatchers and even shippers themselves.

According to an article by the California Construction Trucking Association, CARB requires that shippers, dispatchers and other supply chain members will need to obtain compliance documentation from their shipping partners, or risk sharing in the penalties for non-compliance. 

Included in the same article, CARB has teamed up with the California Highway Patrol and Department of Motor Vehicles to place “holds” or impounds on hundreds of trucks. This activity will undoubtedly add to the $2.4 million in penalties that CARB has levied over the past year - including $227,000 in penalties during the 4th quarter of 2011.

The effects of this could be devastating on your revenue if you are a fleet or owner that is unable to provide compliance documentation, as non-compliance could now cause your customers to look elsewhere for their needs. 

This is why you should get compliant with CARB requirements as soon as possible – avoid being trapped between potential fines from CARB and lost revenue from customers.