The Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) rule imposes aggressive deadlines for electric truck adoption—even though the technology isn’t ready or realistic for Vermont. These vehicles are expensive, hard to find, and often can’t handle rural terrain, heavy loads, or cold winters.
Diesel trucks remain essential. They deliver goods, plow roads, maintain infrastructure, and support industries like farming, forestry, and construction. But under the ACT rule, the number of new diesel trucks that can be sold in Vermont is shrinking—and the effects are already showing.
Truck sales are slowing, and older, higher-emitting vehicles are staying on the road longer. That hurts both the economy and the environment.
Today’s diesel trucks are 99% cleaner than those from a generation ago and cost a third of what electric models do. Vermont should pause and reassess—because we can’t afford to get this wrong.