Research

Project Number:
06-02

Research Project:
Incentivizing Truck Retrofitting in Port Drayage

P.I. Name & Address:
Kristen Monaco
California State University, Long Beach
Department of Economics
1250 Bellflower Boulevard
Long Beach, CA  90840
Tel:  (562) 985-5076
Fax:  (562) 985-5804
Email:  kmonaco@csulb.edu

Project Objective:
As international trade places continued stress on the transportation infrastructure of Southern California, attention has turned to the pollution generated by port activity, namely ships, rail, and trucks.  Trucks are a key target since they are easily visible on Southern California highways and lead to other problems such as accidents and traffic congestion.  While some of the congestion problems have been addressed by increasing gate hours, the problems of pollution persist and need to be addressed. 

The trucks involved in port drayage are of particular concern since they tend to be older than trucks involved in interstate carriage.  Due to the economic conditions faced by these port drivers, the majority of whom are owner operators, it is unlikely that they could purchase new, cleaner trucks.  A lower cost alternative is retrofitting trucks to make them run cleaner.  Though there is still a cost associated with this, it is possible that the truck drivers and the state could share the expense of this retrofitting to cost-effectively reduce truck pollution at the ports.  This approach would be structured as a behavioral tax which would combine a tax on the truckers with a subsidy (undoubtedly state-funded, though the source of funds for this program could be assessed on different parties that benefit from port-related activity) for retrofitting the truck.

Our intent is to conduct a survey of port drayage owner-operators to determine their willingness-to-pay or willingness-to-be-subsidized to implement the new technology.  Once the demand for the policy tools is understood, the ideal structure of the behavioral tax can be established.

Task Descriptions:
1. Submit survey instrument to IRB for Human Subjects approval
2. Collect data
3. Data entry
4. Data analysis and draft report circulated
5. Final report submitted

Milestones, Dates:
March 1, 2006 - Febvruary 28, 2007

Total Budget:
$81,673

Student Involvement:
One graduate student @ $15.00/hr., 800 hours

Relationship to Other Research Projects:
Part of goods movement and international trade focus area

Technology Transfer Activities:
Project report posted on the website; presentation of results at METRANS seminar

Potential Benefits of the Project:
Reduced diesel emissions

TRB Keywords:
Port drayage

Primary Subject:
4b.2 Transportation and logistics system operations and management

Goals:
4c.4 Human and Natural Environment

Enabling Research:
4c.9 Energy and Environment

Modal Orientation:
4c.13 Highway