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Volume 49, Number 535, April 2025
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Highway Superintendent Ron Maggs and the Town of Eden............................................................9 Lots of news, products and services throughout! 361 Shoemaker Road Mohawk NY 13407 Phone 315/866-1423 E-Mail - khogeboom@cegltd.com
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The old saying goes, “the only dumb question is the one you don’t ask.”
When it comes to the new New York Advanced Clean Truck rule, or ACT, this definitely applies to some lawmakers, ACT supporters and even the governor. In short, beginning this year, the New York State government began requiring truck dealerships to sell a percentage of zeroemission vehicles, or ZEVs, for trucks weighing 8,500 lbs. or more, with those percentages required to grow at a steady rate for the next decade. And the truck industry and equipment dealers aren’t happy — and have a right to be unhappy. For an in-depth story about this, please see page 66 in this issue.
I’ll let the story do most of the talking, but the main issue for me is while I think most legislation has some good intentions, you can’t just force things on people without being prepared to do so. The question that should have been asked before implementing ACT was “does the state have the infrastructure to keep ZEVs (zero-emission vehicles) and BEVs (battery-electric vehicles) on the road?” The answer is no. While there are many opportunities to charge cars, there are extremely few heavy-duty charging stations across the state, which renders adherence to the rule challenging, if not virtually impossible.
I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with promoting the use of ZEVs and BEVs, just as I think there’s nothing wrong with continuing to use diesel- or gasoline-powered vehicles. Both can happen at the same time. But if government (or anybody for that matter) is going to command you to do something, they should at least provide you with the tools, the ability, the equipment, training and so on to do it. That didn’t happen here, and government is going to have get with the private sector, listen to their concerns and ensure not only an affordable way to require this, but also to begin developing an infrastructure to even allow this to happen. The state has to ACT first here. P
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By Mary-Yamin-Garone PROFILE CORRESPONDENT
Highway Superintendent Ron Maggs and the Town of Eden
as the highway superintendent of the town of Eden.
Ron has lived all of his 63 years in the town. In 1996, his interest in becoming its highway superintendent started when one of Eden’s retired superintend ents urged him to run.
Born and raised in Eden, Ron was the youngest of seven.
“As I grew up, we always went on family vacations and camping,” he said. “My sister, Barbara, is the oldest, then Ken, Dave, Sue, Cathy and Linda. I was fascinated with anything with an engine — toys, go-karts, mini-bikes. I went to the races with the neighbor family. They got me interested in stock car races and hot rods. Anything with engines.”
Ron graduated high school and then went to Erie Community College. After that, he helped his father with the family-owned printing company he started in 1972.
“I worked there right up until I got this job,” he said. “I was there full-time for roughly 15 years. I worked as a shop foreman and ran the second shift for years. I also had people under me, and I learned how to delegate and deal with personalities and things that helped me with that transition.”
Experiences Prepare Ron for the Job
“My experience with the family business was really it,” he said. “I managed people and scheduled the projects. That helped me in that regard. The other big things were my mechanical ability and love for working on things. When developing my property, I had a backhoe and a little dump truck and learned while doing it. I had a little bit of knowledge but no real knowledge of drainage or road building. I learned on the fly. The guys were good to me, and I was good to them. They helped me learn and we did well over the years.”
Family First
Ron and wife, Kathy, were both born and raised in Eden and have been married for 32 years. The fam ily consists of two boys, “Corbin is 22 and Andrew is 28,” Ron said. “I recently became a grandfather, Andrew and Pam had a baby boy, Owen, who is now one year old.”
Kathy, a registered nurse, has been at Buffalo General Hospital in Buffalo for 36 years.
Ron also enjoys cars, boating, camping and tries to get in a little snowmobiling and skiing in between plowing in the winter.
continued on page 12
The department widens out a section of Route 57 near Hickman after a significant snowstorm in 2007 with its 1952 FWD truck with a Sno-Go blower.
from page 9
The Department
According to Ron, “There’s a main shop with an office, crew room, bathrooms and all that jazz. We also keep many of the trucks up here. The next building was a 60- by 200-foot cold storage metal building when I started. We fixed it up, insulated it and put a new floor down with radiant heat. This stores the rest of our equipment and things.
“Then, we made the back third of that building into our mechanical and fab shop with the welding and fabricating equipment including the press and gantry crane. We also put up a cold storage building that’s 54 by 90 feet in 2007 with a stone floor. No amenities of any kind. There is also a 60- by 72- by 18-foot-high salt barn. This was built just before I started.
continued on page 20
The department replaces a 6-ft. steel pipe on Larkin Road in 2006.
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from page 12
“It’s been maintained and kept up,” he added. “We also built a leanto off the back for more storage. There’s always a need for storing equipment between us, the recreation department and emergency services with generators and things like that. Unfortunately, everything ends up here.”
Getting the Job Done
Ron gets help from his full-time employees who keep the roads safe for the town’s 7,688 residents. Key staff includes Bill Sickau, Matt Colvin, Glen F Hoelscher and Glen T Hoelscher (father and son), Joe Flynn, Ellen Preischel, Howard Haag, John Brockman, Josh
Bugenhagen and secretary, Cindy Kugler.
Keeping the roads safe for travelers is important to Ron.
Under his watchful eye, the town of Eden highway department functions on a total operating budget of roughly $2,000,000. Eden receives $255,000 from the Chips Program, PAVE NY, Extreme Winter Recovery and Pave Our Potholes.
As highway superintendent, Ron is responsible for 98.08 town owned lane miles and an additional 30.07 miles of county roads that they are responsible for plowing.
To get the job done the highway department uses a variety of equipment.
continued on page 28
The highway department performs oil and stoning with Suit-Kote in 2010.
from page 20
“I’m responsible for everything,” he said. “Everyone is an MEO here and everybody does everything. Obviously, some are better at certain things than others, but they all take care of their own trucks. They all operate or drive or do labor or traffic control. We have talented employees that allow us to maintain 90 percent of our equipment ourselves.”
When it comes to budgeting for new equipment Ron has a reserve account that $130,000 goes into every year. This has allowed the town to pay cash for all its equipment.
“We’ve laid out a replacement equipment schedule,” he said. “As for our big trucks, we have five mainline plow trucks, and we buy a new truck every four years. That gives it a 20-year rotation. So, we’re plowing with them for 20 years. Then, they go to a backup truck for a few years and then we get rid of them after about 28 years.
continued on page 38
Milling is performed on Cobblestone Court in 2023.
The crew picks up logs from tree work on Clarksburg Road in 2022.
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from page 28
“It’s a nice schedule that’s working and then we have a rubber-track excavator and a rubber-tired Gradall for ditching. They’re a 14-year replacement. We’re buying one every seven years. Then, we also have our wheel loader, which is on a seven-year rotation. Everything’s laid out. We have five small vehicles and I buy a new one every two years.”
Discussing Drainage
“When I first started as the highway superintendent, I established an off-road drainage committee, which is made up of volunteers,” Ron said. “I’m still the chairman of this committee. We focus on drainage projects outside of the road right-of-way but still related to improving drainage for the road infrastructure. Our work is typically connected to municipal buildings or residential areas. We have specific criteria for determining
how we fund projects — whether they are eligible for funding, or if they fall under private property issues.
“One of the projects we’ve been working on involves a subdivision near the schools, which has drainage problems,” he added. “There is a pipe that runs under our road, Schoolview, and goes through the school’s property — about 800 feet of 24-30-inch pipe installed in 1969 or 1970. Unfortunately, that pipe has rotted out. The drainage continues through some wetlands and farmers’ fields. We were looking for ways to upgrade the piping under the school property, which would allow us to also upgrade the pipe under our road. The current piping was in bad shape, and we wanted to adjust the elevation to improve drainage and prevent flooding, but we couldn’t increase the flow downstream to the farmers who were already dealing with drainage issues.”
continued on page 44
The crew stabilizes the banks after a bad flood in 2012.
Ron said that for years, he explored ways to fund and execute this project and was eventually able to secure a grant through Erie County Soil and Water, specifically an agricultural grant.
“It was a significant achievement, as the Soil and Water Magazine even published an article about it,” he said. “This was the first grant that involved cooperation between the farmers, the school, the town and Erie County. Through the project, we were able to restore the wetlands in the woods to slow down the water for the farmers, upgrade the drainage system through the school to improve their drainage, and ultimately upgrade the drainage under the road as well. This project also benefited the subdivision upstream.
“It was a long process, but we finally completed it last year, and it was a great success.”
Questions, Answers
Is the job everything you expected?
“Yes, and more.” Ron said. “It's been gratifying to work for the town I grew up in and give back to my community.”
How did you get to be highway superintendent? from page 38
continued on page 48
On Sandrock Road, the crew installs a box culvert, part of a FEMA-funded project.
The department replaced the floor in its front shop in 2012, including new drainage.
from page 44
“I was elected in 1995. I ran for office every two years until it changed to a four-year term in 2002. I have completed eight terms.”
Describe your job in one word.
“Busy. Every single day I personally make many decisions. It’s mind boggling. On the other hand, it’s also rewarding.”
What disappointed you the most?
“Honestly, I don’t really have many disappointments in life. Luckily to say, I look at the bright side of life pretty much. I could probably dream up all kinds of issues to complain about, but I can’t think of any because I don’t think that way.”
What has most surprised you?
“The first thing that came to mind was having to be a boss, not just a co-worker. I have a great crew. I get compliments all the time from the guys and other towns and individuals on what a good crew we have and the good camaraderie we have here because everybody gets along. I’ll work right alongside them, whether that’s plowing snow, maintaining roads, chipping brush or whatever; I do as much as I can when I’m not in the office. I feel that we have a good environment. Sometimes, I have to put my foot down and be a boss but that’s OK.
“I also was surprised by how slow things can be like approvals and the process, which can be cumbersome getting things done in government. That was very frustrating for the first few years, But I’m thankful that I’m highway superintendent and I have my own budget, and I really have a lot of latitude to make stuff happen. Otherwise, I’d really go crazy because even that’s slow enough in my mind, but I’ve gotten used to it over the years.”
Most frustrating?
“COVID.”
Least favorite?
“Checking roads in the wintertime for plowing every day many times a day.”
The best part?
“Being out on the job, out in the weather, participating and getting something done.”
continued on page 52
The highway department replaced the roof of its front building in 2016.
The crew repairs bad blowouts on Belknap Road in 2024.
NYS OGS
from page 48
If you could change anything, what would it be?
“Educate the public on exactly what we do on a day-to-day basis here at the highway department.”
The most important?
“Keeping a good relationship with my crew.”
Best day?
In 2007 I was nominated and received the Citizen of the Year Award from our Eden Chamber of Commerce.
Major projects?
“Eden Evans Townline Road, our last dirt road in town, we prepared and paved 1.2 miles in 2024.”
Like most highway superintendents, when it’s all said and done, Ron wants to be remembered for “doing a good job, helping people and keeping the town roads safe.”
continued on page 56
Trucks are lined up and ready to go in the fall of 2015.
Seen here is Gary Drive after the town of Eden experienced an EF-2 tornado in July 2024. There were numerous houses completely damaged beyond repair. The department’s crew worked hard clearing the devastation.
from page 52
What more can you ask for?
About the Town of Eden
The population was 7,688 at the 2010 census. The basis for choosing the town’s name is unknown. Eden is one of the interior “Southtowns” of Erie County, lying in the south-central part of the county and to the south of Buffalo.
The first settler, Samuel Tubbs, arrived in 1808 along with John Welch, Dr. John March, Levi Bunting and Daniel Webster. The Town of Eden was established in 1812 by the partition of the (now defunct) Town of Willink. Later, Eden gave up territory to form the towns of Evans and Boston. The town was called “Hill’s Corners” until 1822.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town of Eden has a total area of 39.86 sq. mi. of which 39.79 sq. mi. is land and 0.07 sq. mi. or 0.17 percent, is water.
continued on page 60
The department can reach behind the ditch with its homemade stump grinder attached.
The town of Eden highway department paved its last dirt road, Eden Evans Townline Road, with the help of some neighboring towns.
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A factory in Eden, the Original American Kazoo Company, was established in 1916 and currently remains the only metal Kazoo factory in North America.
from page 56
The Eden Corn Festival is a small annual festival held in Eden. Festivities usually include a craft show, an auto show, a small assortment of rides, a small parade and local foods (most of which include some form of corn). There also are baseball and softball tournaments and a tractor pull.
During summer months, usually around the Eden Corn Festival, a summer concert series is held in front of the Eden Elementary School. There, local musicians play music for the residents.
A factory in Eden, the Original American Kazoo Company, was established in 1916 and currently remains the only metal Kazoo factory in North America. Located along Route 62, the factory contains a gift shop, as well as a museum that shows its history, and step-by-step Kazoo assembly.
(Town history courtesy of www.edenhistory.com.) P
(All photos courtesy of the town of Eden highway department.)
basis for choosing the
The
town’s name is unknown. Eden is one of the interior “Southtowns” of Erie County, lying in the south-central part of the county and to the south of Buffalo.
New Advanced Clean Truck Rule Facing Stiff Opposition
By Eric Olson PROFILE CORRESPONDENT
At the beginning of 2025, the New York State government began requiring truck dealerships to sell a percentage of zero-emission vehicles, or ZEVs, for trucks weighing 8,500 lbs. or more, with those percentages required to grow at a steady rate for the next decade.
Among the various types of ZEVs currently registered in a handful of states across the country are battery-electric vehicles (BEVs), more commonly referred to as EVs.
The high-minded intention of the New York Advanced Clean Truck (ACT) rule is, of course, to reduce harmful greenhouse gases and air pollution, while also promoting the green transportation industry, improving air quality and lowering the operating expenses of businesses that use trucks.
So far, only five other states have enacted rules similar to New York’s ACT: Massachusetts, New Jersey, Washington State, Oregon and California, the latter of which was the basis for New York’s initiative, adopted in 2021.
The Empire State’s trucking industry was given until this past New Year’s Day to comply with the mandate.
However, as a result of the ACT rule, the Trucking Association of New York (TANY), a lobbying group made up of dealers, trucking companies and industry supporters, has been working furiously to get Gov. Kathy Hochul and other leaders in Albany to hit the pause button on what it considers to be a piece of legislation that is both onerous and erroneously reasoned.
“Supporters of the ACT rule argue that delaying implementation will slow emissions reductions, harm public health and worsen environmental injustice,” TANY said in a recent e-mail to its members. “They point to transportation as the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in New York and claim that reducing diesel truck usage will lower pollution levels, particularly in disadvantaged communities that bear the brunt of transportation-related emissions.”
The trucking association, though, said that the reality is the state has done almost nothing to make ACT compliance workable for most truck OEMs, dealers or vehicle owners.
While TANY supports reducing emissions and advancing clean transportation, it explained that the ACT rule, as written, is “unrealistic and counterproductive.”
“Even if zero-emission vehicle technology
were fully developed, New York does not have the infrastructure to support widespread adoption,” the group reminded its members.
Among the key issues concerning TANY are:
• New York State currently has no heavyduty public charging stations.
• The state’s “unrealistic” sales requirements.
• The exorbitant costs of class 8 electric vehicles.
• Electric grid capacity problems.
• Worries that the charging process itself takes too long.
As a result, since last year, TANY and its supporters have been calling for the state “to delay their own compliance — in the form of an enforcement exemption for municipal vehicles — because the ACT requirements are unattainable.”
Pushing ACT forward prematurely will not only fail to reduce emissions, New York’s trucking advocates believe, but it also will drive costs higher, limit truck availability, disrupt the supply chain and put jobs at risk.
TANY said it is more than willing to work with the state to set more practical objectives for implementing ACT.
Widespread Electric Truck Use May Not Happen Any Time Soon
Sean Gallivan is the owner, president and CEO of S.M. Gallivan, a trucking and construction firm based in Cohoes, N.Y., just north of Albany. He also is a well-respected business professional and has an influential voice within TANY.
His diversified company specializes in truck transportation, the manufacturing of landscape supplies, wood waste recycling, concrete and asphalt crushing and the commerce of agricultural commodities.
When asked March 6 where things stood on the clean trucks rule following continuing talks between TANY and state officials, he said a delay in enforcing ACT’s provisions is under discussion.
“Dealerships are required to purchase a zero-emission vehicle within the same class before selling a truck to end users like us,” he said. “However, the New York State Senate and Assembly have just proposed legislation to postpone implementation and enforcement, and this has not passed yet.”
Gallivan believes the timeline for putting the ACT into effect should align with infrastructure development and technological advancements. While reducing emissions is an
important goal, he said, “widespread adoption of ZEV trucks will likely require at least 10-15 years for infrastructure improvements and vehicle advancements to make them a viable option for heavy-hauling businesses.”
He also noted that his firm and the logistics companies it works with support the responsible adoption of ZEVs, “provided the technology and infrastructure can adequately support our businesses.”
But Gallivan added that at present, ZEVs “remain cost-prohibitive, have range and hauling limitations and lack the necessary charging infrastructure.”
He added that the zero-emissions technology primarily supports light-duty vehicles and last-mile logistics, such as delivery services. However, for operations beyond a 75-mi. radius or those requiring heavy loads, current ZEV capabilities are not yet viable.
ACT’s requirement that a certain percentage of new trucks must be zero-emission vehicles, to be increased each year through model year 2035, along with the ratio of ZEV to diesel truck sales, Gallivan admits, will be “extremely difficult” to achieve under present conditions.
“Our utility provider, National Grid, estimated that installing just one charging station would cost around $750,000, with a possible three-year timeline for providing power,” he said. “To comply with the regulations, we would need multiple charging stations by 2026, adding to the financial and logistical challenges.”
In addition, while a reduction in harmful emissions is the end goal, the current approach may unintentionally prevent the adoption of newer, cleaner-burning diesel trucks and keep older, higher-emission vehicles on New York’s roadways, according to Gallivan.
Do ACT Supporters Fully Understand Its Likely Impact?
The economic and implementation effects of the ACT rule also deeply concern David Holzwarth, director of truck sales of Syracusebased Tracey Road Equipment. A company employee for 35 years, the past 18 in his current position, he is highly respected by other trucking professionals for his knowledge of the industry.
Tracey Road is one of the state’s largest distributors of trucks and construction equipment, including the Daimler-owned Freightliner and Western Star lineup of commercial trucks. The continued on page 66
Industry Concerned Over Lack of Heavy-Duty Charging Stations
from page 64
dealership supplies vehicles across the United States, with a focus on the Northeast, and is known for its top-notch sales, service and parts operations.
From his position on the front line of selling trucks while under pressure to adhere to the ACT rules, Holzwarth said that its supporters — made up of state and political leaders, as well as environmental groups — did not seem to grasp the ramifications of the mandate on the trucking industry when the regulations were passed four years ago.
In fact, he said the planned rollout “did not make anybody’s radar until sometime late in 2023 when we at the dealership started telling our customers about [ACT] and they all looked at us like we were crazy. They thought, ‘This is stupid, it’s never going to happen.’
“Fast forward to today, and here we are more than two months into it and I’m $67.5 million behind in truck sales from where I would have been in a normal year,” he said. “That’s 450 trucks at an average price of $150,000 per. These are retail dollars, not necessarily cost or profitability, but if it keeps going, we could have to cut somewhere in the vicinity of 30 percent of [Tracey Road’s] sales force. The dealership will survive with service and parts for quite some time, but the sales process is going to take a hit.”
He added that the ACT’s backers have likely figured if it is possible to easily charge electric cars, the same should be true for powering EV trucks that haul freight long distances.
“I believe they really didn’t understand, number one, that the power required for a truck charger is significantly more than what is needed for a car — we’re talking about a 60-kilowatt charger for a really small truck, up to a 150 kW or 240 kW unit, depending on how many trucks you are trying to charge.”
Most electric cars that require a complete recharge, by contrast, need only about 10 kW to reach full power.
Then there is the problem of the time it takes to charge an electric truck.
According to Gallivan, current “fast” charging stations need approximately five hours to power a truck to 80 percent capacity and up to 10 hours for a full charge. But, in cold weather, such as you would find in New York State, an electric vehicle’s range decreases significantly. Indeed, a recent test showed an electric truck running out of power after traveling just 80 mi., he said.
When Tracey Road’s truck customers began
asking their utilities if they could get the needed electric power delivered to their location, according to Holzwarth, they learned that the amount of kilowatts was so massive that most small towns do not require as much energy as many chargers can provide.
“If the power companies can’t deliver the power, we can’t get the chargers and the customers can’t charge the trucks, so why should they buy an electric truck,” he said. “It’s simply unworkable.”
Now, with the ACT program in full swing, he admitted that this winter Daimler has not been accepting orders for any trucks other than snowplows, street sweepers, catch basin cleaners or dump trucks used for snowplow removal by municipalities.
“For a commercial account, if a customer wanted to come to us and order a truck for next year, I would first need to have had credits from selling an electric vehicle,” Holzwarth said. “At this point, though, I have no prospects for selling any electric vehicles and I have none on order.”
He added that Tracey Road sold one ZEV to National Grid, which registered it in Massachusetts, but the ACT rules say that when a company buys a truck from his dealership and registers it in a state other than New York, the credits go to the customer, not the dealership. After the deal was concluded, National Grid ended up with six credits, while Tracey Road gained none.
“As far as I am aware, nobody in the state is able to order trucks any differently than us,” Holzwarth said.
At this point, the process by which Tracey Road and other New York truck dealers must navigate their way to full ACT compliance is — to say the least — a study in bureaucracy.
He said that if he wants to order a truck for a municipality, for example, he must first get the customer to send a letter to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).
“The DEC takes a look at the letter and then either approves or disapproves it,” said Holzwarth. “When I get an approval letter back from DEC, and the customer e-mails me the letter they originally submitted to the DEC to get the OK, with those two things I can place my order with the OEM. Without them both, I have nothing. And that is for trucks that are going to be registered in New York State.”
Charger Costs Are High, While Infrastructure Lacking
Holzwarth also called out the state for its
short sightedness in pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into building car-charging stations at all 27 service plazas on the New York Thruway — but not one for trucks.
Gallivan admitted that the lack of planning for heavy-duty charging infrastructure remains a significant issue.
“Effective policy implementation requires coordination between the state, utility companies, and industry stakeholders,” he added. “Currently, there are only three public charging stations in New York, and none within range of our company in Albany. This lack of infrastructure could create substantial operational inefficiencies, particularly for long-haul trucking.”
As a result, Holzwarth said that when Tracey Road pitches ZEVs to its customers, “we tell them that they are not going to be able to rely on the state for putting in the needed infrastructure,” and that, instead, they will need to have the funds necessary to purchase their own chargers.
“Now we ask them, ‘What do you have for power? Can you get 60-150 kW through your facility? If so, then you need to buy a charger, which [costs] in the vicinity of $60,000 to $100,000, have it installed, and all that must be done before we can order you a new truck,’” he said.
Gallivan added that the transitioning costs for trucking firms switching from diesel to electric vehicles are also substantial, noting that “while a diesel truck costs around $200,000 and can travel 500-650 miles per day, an electric truck costs between $550,000 and $700,000, with an additional $200,000 to $750,000 needed for charging infrastructure.”
With the current technology only allowing for a ZEV, carrying a full 80,000-lb. load, to travel with a maximum range of about 150 mi. from its base, he explained, “multiple electric trucks would be required to perform the same workload as a single clean diesel truck, leading to increased operational costs.”
For those New York trucking firms that rely on hauling freight to or doing business in other parts of the United States, most of which also have little to no EV infrastructure, using electric trucks is almost unthinkable, particularly for smaller companies.
Gallivan said that this, too, is a major concern for his construction and landscaping outfit, as well as for most other TANY members.
“Our operations extend throughout the Northeast,” he said. “Additionally, in recent hurricane relief efforts in North Carolina and continued on page 68
Truck Industry, Lawmakers Work Toward Bipartisan ACT Solution
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Florida, our diesel trucks played a vital role in emergency response. The current electric truck technology does not yet support the heavy loads and long distances required for such critical missions.”
Trucking Industry, Contractors in NYS ACT Frustrates
Truck customers are understandably frustrated and upset over New York State’s ACT regulations, according to Holzwarth.
“They simply want to be able to buy trucks at reasonable prices and, as a result, some of them are actually considering buying an EV simply to get the credits to buy the diesel vehicles, and then taking the price of that one electric machine and diluting it with the other six or eight that they would end up buying, which is not a good business practice because they are just inflating their acquisition costs,” he said.
The function of that one EV, he added, would be for it to just sit unused on the lot of a freight hauler or construction company.
“Let’s say someone orders an electric Freightliner eM2, which is a six-wheel straight delivery truck, or maybe a tractor,” Holzwarth said. “The tractor is going to get you eight credits, the eM2 is going to get you six credits. The people that contemplate doing this will buy the truck, register it — which is required — and then just park it.”
Another option, he said, is for a company to go out of state to find older trucks that are likely to have dirtier engines than newer vehicles, which only serves to worsen New York’s air quality and do the opposite of what the ACT’s supporters intended.
Both Sides Working Toward Agreement
Despite everything, though, both Gallivan and Holzwarth remain optimistic that TANY’s lobbying efforts to Hochul, state legislators, and other ACT backers will end with an agreement that is acceptable to all parties.
Gallivan noted that there has been significant bipartisan discussion on addressing
TANY’s concerns and possibly adjusting ACT’s timeline.
“Earlier this year, S.M. Gallivan participated in a special investigatory hearing held by the New York Assembly where lawmakers on both sides of the aisle expressed concerns about the feasibility of these regulations. However, there is still a need for more direct engagement between state officials and the industry.”
Gallivan added that he hopes the ongoing discussions will lead to practical solutions that balance environmental goals with economic and operational realities.
“From what I understand, we have gotten some really good face time with key people in government and helped them to better understand the problems that the trucking industry faces,” said Holzwarth, who has himself been a part of TANY’s lobbying efforts. “We are making some headway, but I don’t know how long it will take.
“We need the issues ironed out now, though, not six months or a year from now.”
