When the California Air Resources Board says it is serious about fining trucking companies for violating state regulations over air quality it isn’t kidding.

It has levied a total of $140,925 against JR Custom Harvesting and its associates New Venture Trucking and Zion Harvest for a variety of air quality violations relating to the company’s diesel vehicle fleet.

According to a release, a CARB investigation found that the Salinas, Calif. company failed to:

• Properly self-inspect its diesel trucks to insure they met state smoke emission standards;

• Meet the requirements of the Truck and Bus Regulation’s Engine Model Year Compliance schedule, and

• Register its Transport Refrigeration Units in CARB’s TRU tracking system.

In addition, the company was cited for having non-compliant TRUs and for failing to properly label them as required.

JR Custom Harvesting provides growers with farm labor for harvesting produce and trucking services to get produce from the field to processing facilities throughout California and Arizona. This is the first time the company has been found in violation of ARB regulations.

As outlined in the settlement agreement, the company paid $105,694 to the California Air Pollution Control Fund, which provides funding for projects and research to improve California's air quality, and $35,231 to the Peralta Colleges Foundation to fund diesel education classes conducted by participating California community colleges.