SSA Marine received $4.82 million from the Clean Off-Road Equipment Voucher Incentive Project, also known as CORE, to purchase 20 zero-emission forklifts and charging infrastructure for their locations in Stockton and West Sacramento. This equipment will help reduce greenhouse gases and air pollutants in census tracts that are heavily burdened by diesel particulate matter and other air pollutants.

According to the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, Stockton residents are exposed to the highest rate of fine particulate matter and the second highest rate of diesel particulate matter compared to all other communities in Northern California. According to the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment’s California Communities Environmental Health Screening Tool, or CalEnviroScreen, the community around the SSA Marine location in West Sacramento also has one of the highest rates of diesel particulate matter in the State. Inland ports are large producers of this kind of pollution, and this grant to SSA Marine will ease the burden of these communities.

SSA Marine is also planning to continue to support initiatives to move the shipping industry towards zero-emission equipment. “We plan on purchasing more electric vehicles in the future as the technology continues to mature,” says Joe Carrillo, Regional Vice President of SSA Marine. “Funding will need to continue until zero-emission equipment has the same capabilities as current marine terminal handling equipment, but we support the movement toward reducing pollution.”

Aimee L. Quemuel, Vice President of Marketing & Operations for XL Lifts, agrees that programs like CORE are critical to making California’s off-road zero-emission goals a reality. “As the only dealer with currently deployed CORE forklifts, we know first-hand that the majority of companies will only consider zero-emission forklifts – especially the large capacity ones – with funding programs like CORE to help offset the current costs of this new technology.”