Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) 101

CARB designed ACF to transition the following fleet types to ZEVs: 

• Drayage fleets with trucks that operate in CA ports or intermodal rail yards 

• State and local government fleets that run medium- and heavy-duty vehicles 

• High priority private and federal fleets that run either 50 or more vehicles above an 8,500 GVWR or earn $50 million or more in annual revenue 

 Note: If your fleet primarily operates outside of California, meets the above requirements, and has even a single vehicle travel in or through California, that vehicle will be subject to the ACF regulation.  

• Drayage Fleets 

• Beginning January 1, 2024, all drayage trucks registering for the first time with CARB must be powered with a zero-emission powertrain 

• Trucks over 12 years old must have mileage reported by 2025  

• Trucks must be taken out of service at end of life: 18 years or 800,000 miles 

• All fleet trucks must be ZEVs by 2035, regardless of vehicle age or mileage 
   

• State and Local Government Fleets 

• Beginning January 1, 2024, 50% additions to fleet in each calendar year must be ZEV medium- and heavy-duty vehicles 

• All new vehicle purchases must be ZEVs starting in 2027  

• High Priority Private and Federal Fleets 

• Beginning January 1, 2024, with an initial report due February 1, 2024, fleets have two pathways for compliance beginning in 2025: 

• PATHWAY 1 – MODEL YEAR SCHEDULE TIMELINE 

• As of January 1, 2024, fleets must only purchase ZEV or NZEV and remove ICE at end of life (18 years or 800k miles). Registration of all vehicles starts Jan. 2024 in the TRUCRS system. 

• PATHWAY 2 – ZERO-EMISSION MILESTONE TIMELINE 

• ZEV percentage milestones as determined by preset vehicle groups. Registration of all vehicles starts Jan. 2024 in the TRUCRS system with baseline due Feb. 2024. Fleets can add ICE vehicles to their fleet if ZEV percentage milestones are hit. 

If fleets run 50+ vehicles that are 8,500 lbs. GVWR, they will need to adhere to the regulation. Light duty vehicles in class 1-2a are not currently part of this regulation. Even if you don’t run medium- or heavy-duty trucks, your fleet might fall under ACF regulation if you have light-duty package delivery vehicles or yard tractors. 

 

Example: If a fleet has 50 or more Silverado 2500, Ford F-250, RAM 2500, Chevrolet Express, Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, RAM ProMaster, or Transit 150 models on the road, they will need to comply. Delivery trucks are also impacted by ACF, even if they are under 8,500 lbs. GVWR.  

If a fleet runs a minimum of 50 vehicles with an 8,500 lbs. GVWR or earns more than $50 million in annual revenue, any vehicles operating in or through the state of California need to comply.  

Example: A furniture manufacturer headquartered in Nevada, does occasional deliveries in California. They have a fleet of 75 box trucks, but only 10 enter California on a regular basis. Those 10 will need to meet specific ACF compliance and reporting requirements.  

Under the federal Clean Air Act (CAA), California-specific environmental regulations often require an EPA approved waiver to allow California to impose environmental restrictions and mandates that go beyond federal law.  

CARB filed for a waiver in December 2023. While the EPA comes to their decision, reporting and enforcement has been suspended for high priority private, drayage, and federal fleets. 

With the potential of retroactive reporting, fleets should start getting ACF compliant as soon as possible. If a fleet wants to take advantage of HVIP voucher funding toward their ACF purchases, these orders must be placed before 2025 – and ideally before October 2024. Vehicle OEMs generally take one-to-two months to process orders, so waiting till December might not be enough time to secure the VIN information you need.  

CARB offers fleets some flexibility on ACF compliance if they fall into one of these four categories:  

1. Infrastructure delays: If construction delays an ACF compliance project, fleets may apply for a one-year extension before they must start to comply. 

1. Electrical delays: If your utility provider needs more time to make electrical upgrades, the fleet may delay ZEV adoption. This extension type will close out in 2030.  

1. Vehicle delivery delays: If your vehicles experience a delivery delay, your fleet may file for an extension to continue using your ICE vehicles until ZEV delivery. 

1. Daily usage exemptions: If an organization can prove that available ZEV models do not meet their operational requirements, an exemption can be requested. 

For state and local government fleets, specific counties or agencies with less than 10 medium- or heavy-duty vehicles are exempt until further notice.  

ACF is starting in California, but other states are likely to follow suit. By reviewing the Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) regulation, we can predict which states are likely to adopt ACF.   

 

Those states include: 

• Massachusetts 

• New Jersey 

• New York 

• Oregon 

• Washington  

• Vermont 

• Colorado 

• Maryland 

• New Mexico 

• Rhode Island 
   

There are ACF-complaint solutions for just about any vehicle type on the market. 

Vehicle Types 

• Box Trucks 

• Cargo Vans 

• Delivery Vans 

• Heavy-Duty Trucks 

• Medium-Duty Trucks 

• Pickup Trucks 

Vehicle OEMS 

• Ford 

• Mercedes-Benz 

• RAM 

• Rivian 

• XOS 

• And more! 

The Clean Truck & Bus Vouchers (HVIP) is a program set up by CARB to accelerate market transformation by incentivizing the purchase of zero-emission heavy-duty trucks and buses for California fleets. HVIP is the cornerstone of advanced technology heavy-duty incentives, providing funding since 2010 to support the long-term transition to ZEVs in the heavy-duty market, as well as supporting investments in other emerging technologies to achieve substantial GHG reductions and help meet health-based ambient air quality standards. Investments made through HVIP provide both broad purchase incentives for fleets, and more targeted measures to address air quality needs in California’s priority populations.