New Orleans — The Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) received a United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant for $1.24 million for the Port’s Clean Truck Replacement Incentive Program (Clean TRIP), which gives truck and fleet owners who serve Port NOLA an opportunity to voluntarily replace older, inefficient drayage trucks with cleaner models.
Since 2016, Port NOLA has received approximately $1.6 million in grant funding for our Clean TRIP initiative. This new grant award is our largest to date and brings total Clean TRIP program grant funding to $2.8 million. This program was launched and implemented successfully with funding from the EPA and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ).
To date, 58 short-haul drayage trucks have been replaced with cleaner burning engines, reducing fine particulate emissions from these trucks by more than 96%, the equivalent of taking 73,000 cars off the road. These replacements also reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 542 tons per year.
The Port will begin accepting applications for new replacements in the spring of 2021 and expect to replace at a minimum 34 additional trucks, with a goal of 42 truck replacements. If we attain our goal, Port NOLA’s Clean TRIP will have helped replace a total of 100 trucks since 2016.
“Truck drivers play a vital role in the Port NOLA freight gateway, and we’re proud of the positive impact the Clean TRIP program has had on the environment as well as on the Port’s trucking community,” said Brandy D. Christian, President and CEO of Port NOLA and CEO of the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad. “These competitive grants continue to provide truck replacement rebates supporting our local Port trucking industry, helping reduce local air emissions and increasing reliability and efficiency of the movement of goods on our roadways.”
The Clean TRIP program provides valuable incentives for eligible local truckers that service cargo terminals and warehouses along the Mississippi River and the Inner Harbor. Port NOLA’s Clean TRIP initiative has contributed to community dialogue around air quality and opportunities for improvement, and catalyzed port industry efforts under the broader Port of New Orleans Clean Air Program.
Port NOLA was recognized as a Clean Fleet Leader for five consecutive years (2015-2019) by the New Orleans Clean Fuels Partnership for its reduction of fuel use from environmental sustainability programs such as Clean TRIP. In 2018, LDEQ honored Port NOLA with an Environmental Leadership Award for pollution prevention and commitment to environmental protection as an acknowledgement for the success of its Clean TRIP program.
For more information on the Clean TRIP program visit: https://www.portnola.com/community/sustainable-development/clean-trip
Photo Credentials: Port NOLA Clean TRIP Truck, Garry Grimes;
