The Port of Long Beach will make expansions to its Clean Trucks Program that aim to increase the use of efficient vehicles being used at the port, and penalize companies that do not meet strict standards.

In response to a ban on pre-2007 emissions level Class 8 trucks earlier this year, some trucking companies switched to using smaller but older and more dirty Class 7 trucks instead. The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners on Monday approved a plan to include Class 7 trucks in the Clean Trucks Program and subject them to the same standards as larger trucks. The port estimates that about 550 Class 7 trucks have been operating in the region, accounting for about 2-3 percent of truck movement.

The other big announcement is that a plan was approved to find ways to penalize trucking companies that switch cargo from Clean Trucks Program approved trucks to older, dirtier trucks once the vehicle has left the cargo terminal. The Port could not provide statistics on how often this practice is used, but says that there is an “unfair advantage” when companies switch to dirty trucks compared to companies that use clean trucks from start to finish.