Comment Log Display

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.