The Port of Long Beach announced two clean freight actions this week, launching a Green Truck Corridor to Mexico and approving $58.2 million for additional clean technology at the port.
The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners authorized the $58.2 million on June 24 to support the purchase and deployment of zero-emission cargo-handling equipment, charging infrastructure, cleaner harbor craft, zero-emission harbor craft, and one zero-emission locomotive.
The funding will allow tenants and operators to purchase 61 units of electric-powered, human-operated cargo-handling equipment and 21 chargers. It will also support the deployment of six zero-emission harbor craft and five cleaner harbor craft to replace older diesel engines, along with one zero-emission locomotive.
“Expanding our clean technology portfolio is critical to the future of goods movement and to the health of the communities around us,” said Port of Long Beach CEO Noel Hacegaba. “We are not waiting for the future to arrive, we are shaping it and leading the way by deploying the latest zero-emission equipment to make a difference today.”
The funding comes from California’s State Transportation Agency for System-Wide Investment in Freight Transport program. The initiative is intended to support deployment of cleaner technologies, improve goods movement efficiency, and reduce environmental impacts on neighboring communities.
“The Port of Long Beach continues to invest in zero-emission infrastructure and deploy a suite of incentives for early adopters of these technologies,” said Long Beach Harbor Commission President Frank Colonna. “This latest round of funding builds on the Port’s broader SWIFT program, which is accelerating the transition to zero-emission operations while improving the reliability and efficiency of cargo movement.”
The clean technology approval came one day before the port announced the launch of a Green Truck Corridor to Mexico. The corridor is the latest addition to the port’s clean freight efforts and follows the port’s May announcement of a port-powered Green Truck Corridor connecting Long Beach with California’s Central Valley.
The Mexico corridor is intended to support cleaner freight movement between the Port of Long Beach and Mexico. The announcement adds a cross-border component to the port’s growing focus on green goods movement routes and zero-emission freight infrastructure.
The earlier Central Valley corridor was established through a memorandum of understanding between the Port of Long Beach, The Wonderful Company, and Lincoln Transportation Services. That agreement created a framework for collaboration on a route connecting Long Beach with the Central Valley, where more than 300,000 TEUs of imports and exports move annually between the San Pedro Bay ports complex and the southern Central Valley.
The Port of Long Beach has said the Central Valley corridor is designed to connect port operations, inland logistics capacity, and emerging zero-emission trucking opportunities in a planned system intended to improve efficiency over time.