Clean Truck Fee

If you’ve ever shipped a container through the Port of Long Beach or the Port of Los Angeles, you’ve seen a line item on your drayage invoice that doesn’t exist at most other U.S. ports: the Clean Truck Fee. It’s a per-trip charge designed to fund the replacement of older, high-polluting diesel trucks with newer, zero-emission or near-zero-emission vehicles serving the port complex.

Background and Purpose

The San Pedro Bay ports (Long Beach and Los Angeles together) are the busiest container port complex in the Western Hemisphere, handling roughly 40% of all containerized imports entering the United States. The volume of truck traffic in and out of these terminals has historically made the surrounding communities, particularly Wilmington, Carson, and West Long Beach, some of the most diesel-polluted neighborhoods in California.

The original Clean Truck Program launched in 2008 and banned pre-2007 trucks from entering the port. That program was funded through a per-TEU fee. The current Clean Truck Fee, which took effect in April 2022 at the Port of Long Beach, goes further. It charges drayage trucks based on their emission classification, with the goal of transitioning the entire port trucking fleet to zero-emission vehicles by 2035.

Fee Structure

The fee applies per truck trip into the port, not per container. The rate depends on the truck’s emission standard:

• Zero-emission trucks: $0 (fully exempt)
• Near-zero-emission natural gas trucks (2023+ model year): reduced rates, typically $10 to $20 per trip
• Diesel trucks meeting 2010 EPA standards: $70 to $100 per trip, with rates increasing on a published schedule

The Port of Long Beach has announced rate escalations over time to accelerate the shift to cleaner vehicles. By 2030, the per-trip fee for diesel trucks is projected to reach levels that make them economically uncompetitive with zero-emission alternatives. The Port of Los Angeles has implemented a similar program, and the two ports coordinate to prevent trucking companies from simply shifting operations to whichever port charges less.

Who Pays

The fee is charged to the trucking company or drayage provider, but like most logistics surcharges, it gets passed through to the beneficial cargo owner, which is you. On your drayage invoice, it typically appears as “CTF,” “Clean Truck Fee,” or “Clean Truck Program Surcharge.” For a single container move from terminal to a warehouse in the greater LA area, the fee adds $70 to $100 on top of the base drayage rate, which already ranges from $250 to $600 depending on distance and chassis availability.

For sellers importing multiple containers per month through San Pedro Bay, the fees add up. Ten containers per month at $90 per trip means $900 in monthly Clean Truck Fees alone. That’s $10,800 per year as a fixed cost of doing business through the nation’s busiest port.

Impact Beyond Southern California

The Clean Truck Fee model is spreading. The Port of Oakland has explored similar programs. The Port of New York and New Jersey has implemented emission-based truck regulations, and East Coast ports are watching California’s framework as a likely preview of federal policy. The EPA’s Phase 3 greenhouse gas standards for heavy-duty vehicles, finalized in 2024, will push emission requirements nationally, which means clean truck surcharges at other major ports are a matter of when, not if.

What This Means for Ecommerce Importers

If you’re routing containers through Long Beach or LA, the Clean Truck Fee is a fixed line item in your landed cost calculation. You can’t negotiate it away, and you can’t avoid it by switching drayage providers since every truck entering the terminal pays it. What you can control is how many truck trips your supply chain requires. Consolidating shipments to reduce the number of individual container moves, using a 3PL located close to the port to minimize drayage distance and potential secondary trips, and timing pickups to avoid detention (which means a second trip and a second fee) all help keep the total cost manageable. A prep center within the port area can receive containers directly from the terminal in a single trip, handle all prep and distribution, and eliminate the extra truck movements that generate additional fees.