First Name | Richard J |
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Last Name | Rukstalis II |
Email Address | LandStar414311@GMail.com |
Affiliation | LandStar |
Subject | Commets to Truck and Bus Rules |
Comment | To members of C.A.R.B. First may i say thank you for taking the time to have this meeting with the concerned parties and for listening to our views on the subject of the truck and bus rule for emissions.My name is Richard J Rukstalis II. I reside in Santa Maria CA. In 2005 i bought a brand new Kenworth tractor with a Caterpillar motor. In 2005 i was legal for Ca emissions.Up tip 2010 i hauled produce back east to places like Ohio,NJ and Boston Mass.In 2011 i changed to hauling things like store fixtures,trade shows,and other specialty freight. I have been trucking 18 years running coast to coast but with the rules that C.A.R.B wants to enforce you are forcing me to either move out of the great state of Ca or to buy a new piece of equipment.I own my own dry van trailer and i have made sure i have low rolling resistance tires and aerodynamic skirts.My issue as it is with others is that those of us with older equipment #1 can’t afford to replace our equipment and #2 like myself don’t want to replace equipment that is reliable and has nothing wrong with it.Trucks like mine aren’t designed for the aftermarket filters as they cause more back pressure to the motor and then the truck loses fuel milage. Now heres the issue at hand also. In todays economy and Californias’ economy we as people of the state can’t afford to lose revenue.In the past year i have hauled loads from companies who have decided to move out of california because of the emissions levied by C.A.R.B. two have gone to Mississippi and one to Ohio. Also the other issue is there is not enough 2008 and newer trucks on the market to replenish the older trucks on the road. See from 2004 to 2007 truck manufactures flooded the market with trucks because they knew no one would buy 2008 trucks and that those trucks weren’t reliable.I ask you to go to any truck dealer and look at the trucks in the shops they are 2008-2012 trucks. These trucks have many issues with Egr valves and particulate filters. This causes downtime that can take from 3 days to 2 weeks and this is revenue that isn’t covered by warranties and is lost that can’t be recuperated. I myself will not buy an unreliable truck because of the things i haul.My customers such as Dell, Microsoft,American heart association,ESPN,amongst others would not understand if i was late with their tradeshow or Tv equipment contracts would be lost.Also new trucks are priced very high at anywhere from $140,000 to $165,000 and since i live in Santa Barbra country a NoX exempt county i am not eligible for any grants from the state.Same goes for those in other counties that are NoX exempt but yet because we aren’t eligible for these grants C.A.R.B. all to have these filters at a cost from $14,000 to $22,000.That is an out of pocket expense and why would i put $22,000 into a truck thats worth only $25,000.In my eyes its a poor business decision for all operators in and out of state. I have many friends who live in other parts of the country and they have totally stopped running california because of the rules that C.A.R.B. has set in place. In todays economy we as operators can’t afford these new trucks.And without trucks companies in californis cannot move their goods.I live on 300 acres and my family grows strawberries ,raspberries and broccoli.On any given day in Santa maria you see trucks hauling out of the produce sheds and most are older trucks,but with the new rules in place less and less trucks are hauling produce which in turn hurts californias economy.As we know california is an agriculture state. We rely on farmers to grow produce and trucks to haul the produce out of state but with less trucks that aren’t compliant it puts a stranglehold on the agriculture industry. Farmers will pick less,grow less and produce shippers will ship less because lack of compliant trucks. In turn what happens is farmers and produce sheds have to lay off workers and in todays economy and with unemployment at all time highs we as californians are going backwards in time not forward. The rules applied by C.A.R.B also is setting the trucking industry backwards not forwards.If the rules don’t change or get relieved some you will see costs go thru the roof in california.Things in the grocery store,clothing store,homes,everything we buy will go very high as companies will pass the costs onto the consumer.Also you will be putting small businesses out of business. President Obama and even our own governor Jerry Brown support small business but C.A.R.B. apparently doesn’t as you want to force she small trucking companies out of business or buy equipment they cannot afford. My truck gets 6.2 miles per gallon on fuel but these new trucks are getting less fuel milage have more issues and thats loss in revenue. I understand clean air and i am for clean air but in the diesel regs enforced is hurting all industries. I want to you to remember that 97% of the trucks on the road are owned and operated by companies that are 100 trucks or less and thats considered by most as a small business.Problem i have is that C.A.R.B wants to come after diesel trucks but yet in the smog areas at hand like Los angeles,San Fransisco and the central valley there is mass transit but yet everyone drives their car they put out more emissions than trucks do. People don’t use mass transit like they do in other cities like Seattle,Chicago,New york city,Boston or Washington D.C. also these cities have trees and that takes carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide out of the air and replenish it with clean oxygen.Los angeles has issues because #1 everyone drives they think its their right but its a privilege #2 they don’t use mass transit #3 lack of trees and #4 it sits in a valley surrounded by mountain ranges and so thats why theres smog in these area and same goes for San francisco. In closing i ask that instead of forcing these rules onto the trucking industry i ask C.A.R.B to come together with us owner operators,small trucking companies,and small business and ask us what can be done to have clean air but not at high costs. I ask my industry to help C.A.R.B understand the costs of the industry and the costs of the new unreliable equipment and the loss of profit when trucks lose revenue because of issues with P.M filters. I also ask C.A.R.B to come across the isle and help relieve some of these rules as i feel its hurting not only the trucking industry but californias economy and the economy of the United states as these rules affect the country also.I thank you for your time and for reading my letter. i will leave my phone number and if you would like to discuss this or have questions for me that i can answer i would be more than happy to discuss this.again I stress i understand clean air but i also need to protect my small business. |
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Date and Time Comment Was Submitted | 2014-04-21 15:49:48 |
If you have any questions or comments please contact Clerk of the Board at (916) 322-5594.