California Becomes Epicenter of Emerging Truck Technology

With its emissions mandates, tough labor laws, inspection requirements and extensive regulations, California has become both a difficult and expensive environment for trucking.

Nonetheless, the state’s role in trucking technology development, both for zero-emission commercial vehicles and autonomous driving, is starting to push industry advances, motor carrier executives and analysts said.

The state’s subsidies for vehicle acquisition and infrastructure are creating the initial volume the industry requires to calculate the real-world cost of operation for electric and hydrogen powered trucks.