Daimler Truck North America last month informed its dealers in Oregon that it would not sell any new internal combustion diesel engine trucks in that state, a decision that is still in place though Oregon officials say the truck maker’s decision is the result of a misunderstanding.
At the root of the dispute is the California Advanced Clean Trucks rule, which Oregon and several other states have decided to adopt. California sets most of the provisions, and a list of states that includes New York, New Jersey and Colorado follows most of the rules laid down in Sacramento.
The ACT does have a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency, granted to the California Air Resources Board, to be implemented in California. .
Susan Mills, a spokeswoman for the state’s Department of Environmental Quality, which enforces the ACT in Oregon, said the DEQ’s understanding of the dispute involves Daimler’s interpretation of what a staff member told the truck builder about credits under ACT. Companies that manufacture and sell zero-emission vehicles in states that have adopted ACT generate credits. Those credits can be used to offset their own deficits that are created as a function of their total sales in a state, or they can be sold to companies needing to buy credits to make ACT targets.
The issue as the state sees it, Mills said in an interview with FreightWaves, is that there was a misunderstanding of whether a ZEV sold by a truck manufacturer needed then to have that truck registered in Oregon to generate ACT credits. Mills said it does not, contrary to information provided to Daimler by the DEQ.
Mills said when the Daimler message to its dealers in the state went out Dec. 20 that ICE diesel truck sales would stop, the agency immediately contacted Daimler to ask for a meeting. “Daimler did this without checking in or clarifying or confirming any of this,” she said.
The meeting the DEQ sought was quickly convened on Dec. 20, Mills said, “and we clarified that this was not the case, that we were not going to be requiring proof of registration in Oregon in order for them to get credits for a ZEV sale.”
Mills said that message was also conveyed to Daimler in writing. “So we were thinking at that point the issue was resolved,” she said. “We’re still a little unclear as to why the pause remains with Daimler.”
But in a statement issued to FreightWaves on Thursday, Daimler showed no indication that the pause was about to be reversed.
“The note we’ve received from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality staff indicates that they are implementing key provisions of the Advanced Clean Trucks rule differently than California,” the statement said. “Unfortunately, that difference leaves us unable to predict our credit balances in Oregon, and therefore risks our compliance in the state. We will work with the Oregon DEQ to try to resolve this issue – but until we have clarity on the matter, we are regretfully unable to process any orders for combustion-powered vehicles for the state.”
A Daimler spokeswoman said the company sells approximately 1,600 trucks and buses in Oregon annually. Buses are covered by the ACT and ZEV buses can generate credits that can offset a company generates.
Oregon is one of several states that agreed to follow California’s lead on such regulations as the Advanced Clean Trucks rule, which is aimed at incentivizing zero-emission truck sales by OEMs, and the Advanced Clean Fleets rule, which is targeted toward the buyers of vehicles.
Daimler has not taken similar steps in other states. In a small irony, Oregon is also the home state of Daimler Truck North America, which is based in Portland.
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