8 hours Ago By Martha Stoddard Omaha World-Herald
LINCOLN — Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers upped his defense of diesel-engine trucking Tuesday with a lawsuit alleging four heavy-duty truck makers were colluding to force electric vehicles on the industry. The suit claims that the four companies violated Nebraska antitrust laws by signing an agreement with California regulators to move toward selling more electric vehicles and fewer diesel-powered semi-trucks in the future. The Clean Truck Partnership was signed in July 2023.
The lawsuit names Daimler Truck North America; International Motors, formerly known as Navistar; Paccar Inc.; Volvo Group North America and the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association as defendants. It was filed in Lincoln County District Court in North Platte, a logistics hub for the state.
The Energy Marketers of America and Renewable Fuels Nebraska joined the state as plaintiffs. At a press conference, Hilgers claimed the four companies, which account for 99% of the market for semitrucks and other heavy-duty vehicles, are colluding to reduce output and increase prices of diesel-based internal combustion engines. He called the agreement anti-democratic and “a quintessential antitrust issue.
” “Eliminating diesel-powered semitrucks is practically impossible to accomplish and would impose enormous costs on Nebraska and Nebraska companies,” he said, adding that the “the logistics industry is a foundational piece of Nebraska’s economy.” “It’s one that’s based on the internal combustion engine and it’s under assault right now with a multi-pronged effort from California, the Biden administration, EPA and now these companies, to transform this internal combustion engine-based logistics industry to one that’s based on electric power.” When the agreement was signed, the California Air Resources Board said it marked a commitment from companies to meet the state’s standards requiring the sale and adoption of zero-emissions technology, even if those standards are challenged in court.
In turn, the board agreed to provide the companies with reasonable lead time to meet existing and new standards and to support the development of needed infrastructure. Jed Mandel, president of the Truck and Engine Manufacturers’ Association, said his association had not yet been served with the complaint but pushed back on the claims made. “Based on what we’ve seen, we believe the allegations are without merit and we will be defending ourselves vigorously,” he said.
Kent Grisham, president and CEO of the Nebraska Trucking Association, however, offered enthusiastic support for the lawsuit. Although diesel-fueled trucks are still readily available now, he said the concern is for the future. “This is about a political agenda,” he said.
“This is about a movement that has developed a following and has backed companies into a corner that we simply cannot allow to be sustained.” Hilgers launched the new lawsuit on the heels of two other suits, filed in May, that seek to block the federal government and California from imposing electric vehicle mandates on trucking, which he said would affect Nebraska. In the first case, Nebraska led 24 states in filing a petition for review of an Environmental Protection Agency rule setting stringent tailpipe emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles that effectively force manufacturers to produce more electric trucks.
The petition was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.
C. Circuit. In the second case, 17 states and the Nebraska Trucking Association filed a lawsuit in the U.
S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. The suit challenges a set of California regulations that require certain trucking fleet owners and operators to retire internal-combustion trucks and transition to electric trucks.
The rule applies to fleets that operate within California, even if they are based outside the state. When the Biden administration announced the EPA regulations in March, officials said they are intended to avoid up to 1 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions over the next three decades and provide $13 billion in net benefits in the form of fewer hospital visits, lost work days and deaths. They take effect for model years 2027 through 2032.
Hilgers also joined a lawsuit in April targeting the EPA’s electric-car regulations. Nebraska AG brings charges against a notary over actions in ballot campaign Nebraska Supreme Court Chief Justice Mike Heavican reflects on 18 years on the bench Unkillable Sower: 5% of Nebraskans haven't paid to renew their old license plates martha.stoddard@owh.
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