Welcome to the New California. Thanks to Newsom and the Democrats the cost of goods for Californians are going up—and they may not even be delivered in a timely basis—or not at all.
“There are several things in the item that illustrate how costly and inefficient these regulations are, the first being that the operations lead in Los Angeles says that simply planning for the logistics of hauls his company transports now costs him 10 to 15 hours extra each week. There are not enough charging stations in place to support these regulations, and if he happens to run out of power, a ten-mile tow would cost him $600.
A truck was also recently out of commission for an entire month, because Volvo recalled the battery (due to a “fire risk”) for replacement.
One of the drivers says that in his diesel-powered semi he could do six loads each day; with the battery-operated Volvo semi, he can do two per day, but he has to work overtime to achieve that goal. Even though he gets paid overtime, he makes $400 less per month because his commissions are lower.”
As expected this is also an attack on the poor and middle class workers—the Democrats have worked hard to LOWER the wages of workers—this is one example. Then when they go to the store and py higher prices, that is another attack. Why do Democrats hate the poor and middle class?
California’s electric semi mandate takes effect, leaving an expensive mess for the truckers and taxpayers
By Jack Hellner, American Thinker, 1/4/24 https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/01/californias_electric_semi_mandate_takes_effect_leaving_an_expensive_mess_for_the_truckers_and_taxpayers.html
If politicians wanted to intentionally raise prices, what would they do?
They would make rules and regulations that increase costs and reduce efficiency or productivity—in California, they do these things as if they are on steroids.
They are forcing semi-truck drivers to use electric semis. They are pretending that these trucks will change the climate. After January 1, 2024, anyone driving a new semi is required to drive one powered by hydrogen or electricity.
The following article, published by The Wall Street Journal, tells the story of what it is like for a driver under these new dictatorial rules:
Electric Mandates Have California Truckers Charging Overtime
They haul lighter loads and spend hours plugged in. Consumers will ultimately foot the bill.
There are several things in the item that illustrate how costly and inefficient these regulations are, the first being that the operations lead in Los Angeles says that simply planning for the logistics of hauls his company transports now costs him 10 to 15 hours extra each week. There are not enough charging stations in place to support these regulations, and if he happens to run out of power, a ten-mile tow would cost him $600.
A truck was also recently out of commission for an entire month, because Volvo recalled the battery (due to a “fire risk”) for replacement.
One of the drivers says that in his diesel-powered semi he could do six loads each day; with the battery-operated Volvo semi, he can do two per day, but he has to work overtime to achieve that goal. Even though he gets paid overtime, he makes $400 less per month because his commissions are lower.
He describes a day when he started at 5:30 am, and drove 9 miles to a charging station where he spent an entire hour to charge the battery from “54% to 90%.” With his diesel vehicle, he could go 1,000 miles after a fifteen-minute fill up. This first charge covered his first trip of the day.
His second haul of the day began around noon; for that one he had to drive “33 miles out of his way” to get another charge. That took another 95 minutes of idling, which brought the battery from a 25% charge to 93%. (If two trucks are charging at the same time, the process takes longer, and this driver’s hour-and-a-half charge time was a “quick” fill-up.)
Fitting these trucks at the charging stations also proves to be a challenge; many times the driver has to unhook his trailer and park it somewhere else while he takes the cab to charge, because many of the charging stations are in tight locations like “shopping-center parking lots” where a big semi and trailer can’t easily navigate.
Also, each truckload can carry less because it is significantly heavier than a diesel powered truck.
Arter a 13-hour day, the driver had only delivered two loads and driven 248 miles.
The operations lead calculated that the “higher labor costs and inefficiencies” had cost the company an extra $310 that day, and instead of eating the costs, the company added a surcharge to the companies taking the deliveries; in turn, this cost gets passed on to the consumer.
Now think of what that does to inflation if that is done throughout the economy. Think of the supply chain disruptions and costs if drivers can only do one-third the number of loads, with loads that are far smaller. Think of how much more space would be needed for charging stations if all trucks and cars were electric.
Think of how much the power grid would have to be increased to support the green agenda. It is not financially feasible and there is no way alternative energy sources could handle this.
And the cost of electric semis dwarfs ($300k–$500k) the cost of diesel-powered ones ($70k–$150k); clearly, small companies will not be able to compete. The insurance, loans, leases, and depreciation costs will also jack up freight rates, which will affect all consumers.
The additional weight of E.V.s will also cause more damage to roads. When will politicians start charging electrical vehicle owners for their mileage and the damage they cause?
This inflation is caused by excessive regulations instead of increased demand. It is cost-push inflation and the problems cascade through the economy. Consumers, especially the poor and middle classes, are the ones who are harmed the most.
And Democrats pretend they care about the blue-collar little guy, like truck drivers.
People should recognize that this is all a massive fraud to transfer our money and freedom to a government run by Democrats where they could give huge kickbacks to their political supporters, the green pushers. There is not one piece of scientific data that shows any link between gas powered vehicles and temperatures, sea levels, and storm activity.
