NEW YORK CITY — CALSTART and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (Port Authority) announced a pair of incentive programs totaling $45 million to accelerate the adoption of zero-emission drayage trucks and terminal tractors, alongside the essential charging infrastructure needed to power them at the Port of New York and New Jersey.
CALSTART stated in a recent media release that, commencing this fall, it will serve as the program designer and administrator for the Clean Truck Incentive (CTI) Program and Green Drayage Accelerator (GDA), looking to drive zero-emission commercial fleet adoption across the East Coast’s busiest seaport.
The release stated that CTI will deploy up to $39 million in point-of-sale vouchers for the purchase of zero-emission drayage trucks, yard tractors, and supporting charging infrastructure. The $5 million GDA program aims to award up to five electric truck charging hubs within 10 miles of the Port Authority’s seaport facilities (or marine terminal facilities). The programs are designed to advance the Port Authority’s sustainability goals by accelerating cleaner technologies while providing port operators with affordable, discounted electric vehicles and charging options.
“They complement a multitude of other sustainability initiatives at the seaport as the Port Authority looks to encourage all links in the supply chain, including ocean carriers, container terminals, and trucking companies, to adopt greener operations,” the release stated. “The agency has committed to reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, including helping its wide universe of operating partners, tenants and contractors to reach the same goal in the same timeframe.”
“Drayage operators are the backbone of this port, keeping freight moving day and night from our terminals to warehouses and businesses across the region,” said Port Authority Port Director Bethann Rooney. “We know that any shift towards cleaner operations must happen through real support and partnership, rather than top-down mandates. We’re making zero-emission trucks and terminal tractors more affordable for the operators who keep this port running, backed by the charging infrastructure they’ll need to power them.”
To ensure transparency and measure long-term impact, CALSTART will build and launch dynamic tracking dashboards for both initiatives. These tools will monitor deployment, vehicle performance, and charger utilization across port operations before being fully transferred to the Port Authority in 2028. Port Authority and CALSTART staff will conduct outreach with the trucking community through in-person and online presentations and informational pamphlets over the coming weeks.
“Deploying zero-emission trucks at scale requires pairing accessible vehicle incentives with reliable, high-capacity charging,” said CALSTART Executive Vice President of California and Regional Market Acceleration Alycia Gilde. “By combining flexible financial support with streamlined program administration, our partnership with the Port Authority lowers the barrier to entry for drayage operators, modernizing the East Coast supply chain while delivering immediate, tangible air quality improvements to local port communities.”
The programs are funded through a $451 million grant awarded to the Port Authority through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Ports Program, the largest sustainability grant in Port Authority history. Beyond the CALSTART-administered programs, the grant will also fund the deployment of electric cargo handling equipment at marine terminals and the installation of vessel shore power infrastructure to allow container ships to plug in while at berth and shut down their auxiliary engines. A separate $3 million EPA planning grant will fund the creation of a Port Community Advisory Council. Subrecipients of the overall award will also be positioned to pursue workforce training and job creation efforts tied to the clean energy sector.
“The trucks that move through our gates don’t stop there. They fan out to warehouses and distribution hubs across the region, carrying the goods that power our economy,” said Port Authority Chairman Kevin O’Toole. “This $45 million partnership with CALSTART puts zero-emission trucks, terminal tractors, and charging infrastructure within reach for the operators who serve this port every day. Cleaner trucks here mean cleaner air not just for our port facilities, but for every community along the routes these trucks travel.”
The programs will further strengthen the Port Authority’s wide-ranging, ambitious sustainability agenda. Through its comprehensive net-zero roadmap, the agency has committed to reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 while assisting the broad ecosystem of operating partners, tenants and contractors in reaching the same goals in the same timeframe.
At the seaport, these efforts have taken several forms. The Truck Replacement Program provides financial incentives to trucking companies that swap out older, higher-emission engines for newer, cleaner ones. The Clean Vessel Incentive program similarly rewards ocean carriers that voluntarily reduce speed near the port, cutting air emissions and conserving fuel in the process. The agency has also built emissions requirements into its marine terminal rules and regulations, mandating that terminal operators shift to zero-emission cargo handling equipment as it becomes commercially available, a move designed to build market demand and push the industry toward further innovation.
Additionally, the continued expansion of the seaport’s on-dock ExpressRail system allows goods to move to the Midwest, New England, and eastern Canada more sustainably than trucking alone. The agency also opened an electric truck charging station at Port Newark last year, with four super-fast chargers located at the truck welcome center at Marlin and Kellogg streets. The port’s tenants have pursued their own sustainability initiatives as well, among them Port Newark Container Terminal’s recently completed solar installation.
Progress toward the Port Authority’s emissions goals is documented in the seaport’s latest 2024 Air Emissions Inventory and Efficiency, which shows sulfur dioxide down 98 percent and both nitrogen oxide and particulate matter down more than 83 percent from 2006 baseline levels, even as cargo volume climbed nearly 71 percent over the same period.
The new programs are also part of a broader push to streamline and improve conditions for the truckers who serve the port, alongside upgraded public restrooms, better roadway paving and striping, new wayfinding and navigation signage, and stronger channels for feedback between drayage drivers and port staff. Meanwhile, the ongoing Port Street Corridor Improvement Project is reworking and modernizing one of the port complex’s key interchanges, aiming to make operations safer and more efficient for the thousands of trucks that pass through daily.
“The Port Authority has committed to reaching net-zero by 2050, and we can’t get there without bringing our tenants, contractors, and partners like the trucking community along with us,” said Port Authority Executive Director Kathryn Garcia. “These new incentive programs make it financially realistic for drayage operators to switch to zero-emission trucks and yard equipment. Paired with other industry-leading programs and regulations, we’re making sure we back up our ambitious sustainability commitments with real action.”
Bruce Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has lived in three states including Arkansas, Missouri and Georgia. During his nearly 20-year career, Bruce has served as managing editor and sports editor for numerous publications. He and his wife, Dana, who is also a journalist, are based in Carrollton, Georgia.
