ROCHESTER, N.Y. —The price of electricity, battery life, cost and a lack of infrastructure are all significant concerns as New York State mandates trucking companies start the transition to electric-powered rigs.

The Advanced Clean Truck regulations went into effect in January. The requirements, adopted by the Department of Environmental Conservation in 2021, require a percentage of new trucks sold in New York to be zero-emission vehicles.

Electric semi-trucks offer a clean and quiet ride, but they come with a hefty price tag, costing at least double that of diesel trucks.

Additionally, the electric vehicles are heavier, requiring them to carry lighter loads to comply with road restrictions. The biggest hurdle, however, is the lack of infrastructure.

Kaitlin Dimmick, Vice President of the Dimmick Group, which sells and services Peterbilt trucks across New York, points out, “They recently did a whole Thruway remodel of all those plazas and not one of them did they put a commercial charger in, they put all the car chargers but nothing for the trucks.”

The cost of the electric trucks impacts consumers directly.

“We’re selling to people that haul your groceries, so the cost of these trucks goes up, the cost of your groceries goes up. They haul medical supplies, they haul equipment to build new construction for homes,” Dimmick explains.

Dan Penska, Vice President of Kenworth Northeast, echoes similar concerns, “If you can’t charge them, what are you going to do with them? You’re asking these people to buy these trucks, there’s no chargers out there, you can’t go more than 200 miles, so, I’m not quite sure how the consumer is going to get their products.”

Despite these challenges, New York State has moved forward with its Advanced Clean Truck regulations.

Dimmick notes, “In NYS, I cannot sell a brand new diesel current emission truck without having EV credits.” To obtain these credits, companies must purchase an electric truck. However, she admits, “We’ve had people demo it but it’s not practical.”

As a result, many companies are finding ways around the mandate.

“What most customers are doing is they’re registering out of state now, our bigger fleets are now pulling their registrations from New York State and registering in states like Florida or Virginia or Indiana and New York is missing out on that revenue from the registrations,” Dimmick says.

In response to these concerns, some state lawmakers are pushing for a delay. A new bill in the legislature aims to postpone the implementation until at least 2027.

In a statement, Senator Jeremy Cooney (D, Rochester) who sponsors the bill says, “I remain fully committed to New York’s climate goals that create a cleaner, healthier state for all. I also recognize the work needed to put infrastructure in place that supports zero-emission trucking. I prefer a regulatory delay from the DEC to implement these requirements, but if updates are not made that balance our environmental goals with the realities on the roads, I will push for my bill to ensure New York is fully prepared for our transition towards a clean energy future without harming existing commerce.”

The previous interim commissioner of the NYS DEC told News10NBC that the agency was looking into a three-year compliance timeline for the industry to adapt. 

It now appears the DEC will take action on the amendments to extend the reporting deadline to 2029 once the ACT regulations that were adopted by California are revised to provide for additional flexibilities. That is expected to happen within the next few months.

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