Long Beach Port CEO outlines green initiatives amid strong cargo numbers – Press Telegram

The Port of Long Beach will likely have a strong cargo year in 2026 and the outlook for the promised transition to a zero-emissions truck fleet is growing more optimistic, CEO Noel Hacegaba said on Tuesday, June 23.

In his monthly virtual news briefing, Hacegaba said the port processed 842,000 cargo containers in May, 32% higher than during the same month in 2025 — making it the busiest May on record.

“Year to date,” Hacegaba added, “we’re near 4 million (twenty-foot equivalent units) and puts us on pace for a record year.”

And Long Beach again topped the Port of Los Angeles in May in total TEUs, he said.

“We’re beginning to see signs that this year may turn out to be another strong year,” Hacegaba said.

While trade uncertainty remains, he said, this year has seen all supply chain parties adapting more quickly to disruption.

Still, he said, concerns remain.

The situation surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, Hacegaba said, “remains fluid” but uncertain, with the impacts being widespread as trade routes are all so critically connected.

With an early peak shipping season anticipated in July and August, shippers are still moving cargo earlier to stay ahead of anticipated future costs — worried that more expensive tariffs could come once the current ones end next month — and as a way to avoid delays that could happen later, he said, adding that inventories are also in need of replenishment.

“The message is simple: flexibility matters,” Hacegaba said about the supply chain. “At times like this, everyone has to be nimble.”

Hacegaba’s guest this month was Robert Loya, CEO of the Harbor Trucking Association, who also spoke about the strains that have hit truck drivers with the spike and instability in fuel costs.

The high cost of transportation in the supply chain, he said, will also hit consumers.

“At the end of the day, it’s going to hit us all and that cost is going to be passed on to the consumer,” Loya said, agreeing with Hacegaba that while costs can go up quickly, they tend to come down slowly.

Both also spoke about the advancements being made to bring in more zero-emissions trucks and long-term cleaner technology.

The Port of Long Beach, which over the years has adopted the “Green Port” ID, recently launched a program to reward the trailblazers, with Hacegaba reiterating that the Port of Long Beach aims “to become the world’s first clean seaport.”

“We’re thinking way outside the box to bring cleaner trucks and ships to our docks,” he said.

The port created a Zero-Emission Truck Early Leaders Award to provide one-time payments totaling as much as $4.8 million for companies that were the first to use the vehicles to serve marine terminals.

Using truck activity data from January 2024 to December 2025 to determine eligibility for the program, it was determined that up to 43 companies qualified.

Qualified trucking companies will receive an acknowledgement letter issued by the Port of Long Beach and provide activity information confirming compliance with the program’s rules. Payments will be made in early 2027, following verification of activity through the end of 2026.

The port also has established a $1 million award for the first oceangoing vessel to refuel at its harbor with methanol on a commercial scale in an effort to jumpstart the industry’s transition to cleaner, lower-carbon fuels like methanol.

Truckers, Loya said, were “very concerned a few years back” when the clean truck initiatives and deadlines were set; the ports’ deadline to transition to a zero-emissions truck fleet is 2035. The trucks are expensive and the technology is still being improved for vehicles intended to haul cargo, especially long distances.

“They felt it was being forced down our throats; we felt the market and infrastructure wasn’t ready,” Loya added.

But, he said, with newer technology and more advanced truck models coming off the production lines, including promising new trucks from Tesla, acceptance is beginning to grow.

What is also needed, however, is new infrastructure to provide faster charging at locations along the truck corridors, he said. While the adoption rate has been slow, a more expansive infrastructure along with longer range capacity for trucks, he said, would speed up adoption.

“Build it and they will come,” Loya said.

Still, costs for the new trucks remain out of reach for many smaller companies and independent drivers. Both the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach provide assistance through their joint Clean Truck fee collection, adopted in 2020, as a way to encourage the industry to invest in cleaner trucks.

Also among other recent game-changers, Hacegaba said, is the Green Truck Corridor the port launched in May.

The Port of Long Beach, The Wonderful Company and Lincoln Transportation Services signed a memorandum of understanding supporting development of the world’s first port-powered Green Truck Corridor, which will connect Long Beach with the Central Valley to improve air quality and reduce greenhouse gases on one of the nation’s busiest truck routes for global trade.

The MOU outlines a framework for collaboration and future development, designed to reflect a shared, early-stage effort to advance a more coordinated model for goods movement, connecting port operations, inland logistics capacity and emerging zero-emissions trucking opportunities in a planned system designed to improve efficiency over time.

Currently, more than 300,000 TEUs of imports and exports flow between the San Pedro Bay ports complex — made up of both the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach — and the southern Central Valley each year.

A Port of Long Beach 2050 vision outlines a plan to double current container volumes to 20 million annually by 2050. Goals include strategically modernizing the port’s infrastructure with $3.3 billion in capital investments over the next decade, and developing digital systems to enhance efficiency and visibility. The port also aims to become the world’s first zero-emissions port.