New Charging Station is Largest at U.S. Port

All systems are go at the newest heavy-duty vehicle charging depot in the Port of Long Beach, where Class 8 zero-emissions trucks can power up on clean electricity. Operated by 4 Gen Logistics LLC, the new facility features 30 new hyper-fast chargers capable of speeds of 350 kilowatts to quickly repower the company’s growing fleet of 79 ZE trucks and counting. In the near future, 4 Gen will open the charging depot to all battery-electric big rigs operating in the San Pedro Bay port complex.

“With each project, we move closer to becoming a zero-emissions port,” said Long Beach Harbor Commission President Bonnie Lowenthal. “Under the Green Port Policy and the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan, this Port and our industry partners are ensuring our economic and environmental sustainability for generations to come.”

The facility is the largest charging depot at any North American port to date, said Port of Long Beach CEO Mario Cordero. “The infrastructure that supplies the clean energy zero-emissions trucks need to keep cargo moving has always been as much of a priority as the trucks themselves. We’re proud to work with companies like 4-Gen, WattEV and Forum Mobility to lead the way for greener trade and transportation operations at home and abroad.”

4 Gen partnered with Electrify America, the largest charging network in the U.S., to design, develop and build the facility located at 200 Pier S Ave. In addition to the Port of Long Beach, backers include the Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Committee, the California Air Resources Board and the Port of Los Angeles. MSRC is a regional clean transportation agency that works with the South Coast Air Quality Management District to invest in clean energy projects, and its funding comes from California’s vehicle license fees.

In mid-October, Port officials and 4 Gen executives held a ribbon-cutting to celebrate the opening of the Long Beach facility. The event also marked completion of the first phase of 4 Gen’s larger project, which includes a charging depot in Rialto that became operational in August. The Rialto facility, also a joint project with Electrify America, features 14 hyper-fast chargers capable of speeds of 350 kW. The second and final phase of the project calls for 30 more charging units at the Long Beach facility and 16 more charging units at the Rialto site.

The charging depots are strategically located to advance sustainable transportation along a primary goods movement corridor between the San Pedro Bay ports and the Inland Empire. The corridor overlaps with many communities served by 4 Gen and its sister company, Duncan and Son Lines Inc., a family-owned logistics firm based in the that has provided drayage services to the San Pedro Bay ports complex for more than 30 years.

“We are leading the way with the most sustainable drayage fleet in the industry,” said 4 Gen CEO David Duncan in a statement announcing the October milestone. “With our partners, we’re proving that zero-emissions transportation is not just a future goal but a reality today.” Duncan is also Vice President of Operations/CEO of DSL Logistics Inc., the Phoenix-based parent company of 4 Gen and Duncan and Son Lines, and he is the fourth-generation family member running the business.

4 Gen’s growing ZE commercial vehicle fleet includes Class 8 Volvo VNRs, Kenworth T680E battery-electric models and Nikola hydrogen fuel cell trucks. The company’s hydrogen-powered trucks are fueled at a separate location.

In 2022, 4 Gen and the Port of Long Beach signed a 10-year lease that allowed the logistics company to develop and operate the charging station on the 4.29-acre Pier S site. The facility opened more than 10 years ahead of CARB’s mandate requiring all drayage trucks to be zero-emissions by 2035.

The ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles set the stage for the CARB regulation when they updated their Clean Air Action Plan in 2017 to include a 2035 target for all drayage trucks calling at San Pedro Bay marine terminals to be ZE models. CARB finalized its Advanced Clean Fleets Regulation in 2023.
Source: Port of Long Beach