The trucking industry in the United States is very dependent on laws, rules, and regulations. These laws, rules, and regulations often determine how long a driver can drive, how much money a driver can make, and even where a driver can work.
They completely control the trucking industry.
And unfortunately for a lot of truck drivers, a new 2023 law will be impacting their livelihood. Thankfully for Whiteline Express drivers, this law is specific to California and mostly owner-operators.
Trucks made before 2011 are no longer allowed on California roads
Financially speaking, new laws can turn out to be a big negative for a truck driver. In this case, over 200,000 trucks will be impacted — this means that tens of thousands of truckers will be impacted, too. Possibly even hundreds of thousands.
To keep it simple, trucks built in 2010 or earlier will no longer be allowed on California roads. This has been coming for a long time and is a result of clean air regulations set in place by California’s Air Resources Board (CARB) back in 2008. According to MotorBiscuit, big rigs make up for just six percent of vehicles but account for about half of the state’s total emissions. This number increases as trucks age.
For many owner-operators, this change will have devastating consequences.
https://twitter.com/hib343434/status/1609716100002099201?s=20&t=3TZh7wGntAhXUO-j1AnAzg
There are exceptions to California’s new law, but not many
Before all drivers are sent into a panic — there are acceptions to this rule.
For example, if you have a truck that was built before 2011 but has never been used, you can continue to drive it. I’m not sure about the specifics of this rule going forward, but if the vehicle has less than 1,000 miles per year of use since its original acquisition, it can still be used.
Another example is that of vehicles that have had their engines replaced with one built past 2010.