The California Air Resources Board has fined Marten Logistics and Roadrunner Transportation Systems for failing to verify that trucks hired or dispatched were compliant with the state’s truck emissions regulations.

Marten was fined $100,000 and Roadrunner was fined $52,250 for compliance violations, and CARB said that both companies had agreed to comply with all applicable terms of the Truck and Bus Regulation going forward.

California’s Truck and Bus Regulation requires all older heavy-duty diesel trucks operating in California to be either retrofitted with soot filters or replaced with a 2010 or later model year engine. 

The regulation also requires that a broker or motor carrier verify that a truck is compliant with regulation requirements before they hire or dispatch that vehicle.

“Any company that hires or dispatches trucks for operation in California must verify the compliance of those vehicles with California law,” said Todd Sax, CARB enforcement chief.  “Failure to do so is a violation of law, and businesses that fail to comply should expect that they will get caught and pay the price. We do everything in our power to protect Californians from high-polluting vehicles and their many negative health impacts, including enforcement of our strict laws."

Large portions of the fine money will be used to fund projects that support air pollution research, children’s health, and local air monitoring.

The majority, around $102,000, will go to the Air Pollution Control Fund, which conducts air quality research; $25,000 will go to the Prescott Joseph center for Community Enhancement to fund Northern County Breathmobile, a mobile unit offering healthcare for children with asthma in disadvantaged communities in Northern California; and $25,000 will go to California Safe Schools to fully fund their Ground Truthing project.

This project allows community members to locate and map facilities that could be potentially hazardous, and relay the info to CARB and the South Coast Air Quality Monitoring District for follow-up action.