Long Beach and Los Angeles provide the primary points of entry for all the cheap Chinese products Wal-Mart (and just about every other retailer in America) shoppers can't seem to do without. They are the largest container ports in America and there are huge fleets of trucks to move all the containers in and out of the ports. Traditionally, they were transported by thousands of diesel trucks, with an estimated 22,000 trips a day moving containers between the ports and warehouses for distribution around the country.

The two ports are now teaming up to request quotes for a liquefied natural gas truck program. Natural gas-powered trucks would have eighty to ninety percent less particulate and NOx emissions than the current diesel trucks. The two ports and the South Coast Air Quality Management board have committed $22 million dollars to assist operators with replacing trucks from before 1989 with new LNG powered trucks. This is particularly important since container traffic through the two ports is expected to double by 2020, meaning even more truck traffic through the gates.

Related:

• Pacific Gas and Electric Company sets up natural gas trucks at the Port of Oakland

[Source: GreenCarCongress]