July 15–16, 2014
CRA Board of Directors Meeting, Lake Tahoe, CA

July 17–21, 2014
CRA RV Campout, Lake Tahoe, CA more...

August 26–27, 2014
CRA Long-Range Planning Committee Meeting, Ontario, CA

August 27, 2014
Inland Territory Meeting, hosted by City Rentals, Ontario, CA

October 15–16, 2014
CRA Board of Directors Meeting, Napa, CA


See CRA's Calendar page for more
information on our upcoming events.

 

On Oct. 15-17, 2014, Point-of-Rental will hold its 3rd annual International Conference at Sheraton Dallas in downtown Dallas. This will be the company’s first year holding the conference outside of their office headquarters in Grand Prairie. Registration for Point-of-Rental™ Systems' 3rd annual International Conference is now open and will end on Monday, September 22, 2014. Attendees who register during the month of June will enjoy a special "Early, Early" Bird rate. The cost of registration will increase on July 1.
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In honor of OSHA’s June 2-6 National Fall Prevention Stand-Down, Terex AWP provided safety tips for operating aerial lift equipment. These ten operating tips are important steps a Mobile Elevating Work Platform (MEWP) operator can take to reduce the likelihood of a fall from height:
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The employees of Bobcat Company and Doosan took part in "Doosan Day of Caring" — a company-wide volunteer effort to celebrate Doosan’s Foundation Day and global volunteer week during the month of June in various Bobcat and Doosan facility locations around the United States. Employee volunteers were offered tasks that included participating in Habitat for Humanity projects; working at local food banks, schools and medical facilities; doing yard work and home maintenance for disabled individuals; and performing landscape and construction work at parks, zoos, community recreational facilities and other attractions. Over seven days, more than 300 Bobcat and Doosan employees volunteered their time for 30 individual events.
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Atlas Copco has ranked number seven globally in the Newsweek Green Rankings, one of the world’s foremost rankings on corporate sustainability, including environmental impact. The ranking is developed by U.S. magazine Newsweek in partnership with Global Knights Capital. The majority of the data used in the ranking was pulled from Bloomberg’s Professional Service, which includes sustainability information on over 5,000 public securities and CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project).
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California Chamber of Commerce-supported bills that ease employers’ transition to complying with the federal health care law passed the Assembly Health Committee last week with unanimous support.

• SB 1034 (Monning; D-Carmel) eliminates confusion for employers by deleting certain provisions of California law related to waiting period limitations for health care benefits and clarifying that employees must be covered no later than their 91st day of employment.

• SB 1446 (DeSaulnier; D-Concord) helps small employers control their health care costs by allowing them to extend their pre-Affordable Care Act (ACA) health care policies through December 31, 2015.
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In its June 13 newsletter, the California Chamber of Commerce reported that legislation requiring all employers, large and small, to provide all employees in California with paid sick leave passed the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee this week. AB 1522 (Gonzalez; D-San Diego), a California Chamber of Commerce-opposed "job killer" bill, will increase the already-high costs of doing business in the state. The bill threatens employers with statutory penalties as well as litigation for alleged violations.
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On June 11, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) reaffirmed the group's crude oil production target of 30 million barrels per day (bbl/d) that has been in place since December 2011. This target is slightly above the 29.8-million-bbl/d call on OPEC crude oil and global stocks during 2014 presented in the U.S. Energy Information Administration's June Short-Term Energy Outlook. The expected 2014 average call on OPEC and global stocks is 0.3 million bbl/d lower than in 2013, with an additional 0.2-million-bbl/d decline during 2015 to an average of 29.6 million bbl/d. Growing non-OPEC supply, particularly from continuing tight oil production growth in the United States, drives the expected easing of global oil market conditions and contributes to the forecast of moderate crude oil price declines, with North Sea Brent crude oil prices averaging $108/bbl in 2014 and $102/bbl in 2015, down from an average of $109/bbl in 2013.
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In a June 12th article on foxandhoundsdaily.com, Joel Fox, editor of Fox & Hounds and president of the Small Business Action Committee, compared the effort to get around the conditions promised to voters when they originally passed the $9 billion bond for Califonia's High-Speed Rail to the pirates' rationale in the original Pirates of the Caribbean movie. In the movie, the governor’s daughter Elizabeth Swann is kidnapped and brought aboard the pirate ship where she demands of the pirate captain Barbossa that she be returned to shore according to the Code of the Order of the Brethren, to which Barbossa responds: "The code is more what you’d call guidelines than actual rules." Fox thinks Barbossa’s approach seems to have been adopted by the defenders of California’s High-Speed Rail.
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Owners or Operators of portable engines and certain other types of equipment can register their units under the Air Resources Board's (ARB) Statewide Portable Equipment Registration Program (PERP) in order to operate their equipment throughout California without having to obtain individual permits from local air districts.

Portable Diesel Engine Airborne Toxic Control Measure
On January 1, 2013, the Portable Engine Airborne Toxic Control Measure (ATCM) fleet emission standards went into effect. The ATCM required owners of portable engines to submit a Fleet Compliance Report to the Air Resources Board by March 1, 2013. The next Fleet Compliance Report will be due March 1, 2017.

Changes to Fleets
The ATCM also requires owners to ensure the average PM emission level for their fleet does not fall out of compliance due to changes in the fleet. Owners of portable diesel engine fleets who are adding or removing engines are strongly encouraged to re-calculate their fleet average. Other changes, such as modifying a registration to be low-use or emergency only-use can also affect the fleet emissions average.
We recommended that once you have completed the calculator, save it and update it any time your portable fleet changes. Diesel engine owners submitting applications for PERP registration for the first time must include a Fleet Compliance Report. This includes transfer of existing registrations for engines you have purchased.

Critical Engine Requirements:
June 30, 2014: This is the last day ARB will accept initial registration applications for Interim Tier 4 engines rated from 175 bhp to 750 bhp.

Effective July 1, 2014: For initial registration into PERP, all diesel engines must meet the following certification tier levels:
• 50 to 74 bhp - Final Tier 4
• 75 to 174 bhp - Interim Tier 4
• 175 to 750 bhp - Final Tier 4
• Over 750 bhp - Interim Tier 4

Or, for all power categories - Flex engines certified under the flexibility provisions of Federal 40 CFR 1039.625, or CFR 89.102, or California Code of Regulations section 2423 (d).
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The Truck and Bus Regulation will reduce diesel exhaust emissions from privately owned and federal government diesel trucks and buses. Privately and publicly owned school buses have different requirements and do not need to be reported. This CARB site has the Truck Regulations Upload and Compliance Reporting System (TRUCRS).

Who Needs to Report for 2014?
Compliance requirements are currently in effect for heavier vehicles with a GVWR greater than 26,000 lbs. with engine years 1996 or newer. To assist vehicle owners with the transition to the January 1, 2014 particulate matter (PM) filter compliance deadline, the Air Resources Board (ARB or Board) is taking specific actions to provide additional time for owners to complete their good-faith compliance efforts and to take advantage of additional flexibility for many lower-use vehicles and vehicles that operate solely in certain areas of the state as explained in the regulatory advisory MSC 13-28. Owners will have the opportunity to use the following options under certain conditions but must report by January 31, 2014.
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On July 26, 2007, the Air Resources Board (ARB) adopted a regulation to reduce diesel particulate matter (PM) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions from in-use (existing) off-road heavy-duty diesel vehicles in California.

What's New? (posted April 29, 2014)
Fleet Average Calculator for Medium Fleets has been made available for public use. The Medium Fleet Average Calculator is for medium-sized off-road fleets (2,501 to 5,000 total horsepower), and covers all compliance years. The calculator has also been updated with additional features to better aid large fleet owners in planning out their compliance strategies. Fleet owners utilizing the calculator are advised to first read the revised User Guide in order to familiarize themselves with the calculator.
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The ARB's Heavy-Duty Vehicle Inspection Program and Periodic Smoke Inspection Program were adopted into law in 1988 to control excessive smoke emissions and tampering from heavy-duty diesel trucks and buses. The regulations Title 13 CCR, sections 2180-2189 for HDVIP and Title 13 CCR, sections 2190-2194 for PSIP, which govern these programs, were last amended in 2013.

The HDVIP program requires heavy-duty trucks and buses to be inspected for excessive smoke and tampering and for engine certification label compliance. Any heavy-duty vehicle traveling in California, including vehicles registered in other states and foreign countries, may be tested. Tests are performed by ARB inspection teams at border crossings, CHP weigh stations, fleet facilities and randomly selected roadside locations. Owners of trucks and buses found in violation are subject to minimum penalties starting at $300 per violation.
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Summary of Amendments Approved in April 2014:
The Board approved amendments to the Truck and Bus Regulation at its April 24-25, 2014 meeting. The approved amendments are intended to help ensure that the air quality benefits originally envisioned by the regulation will be achieved by providing some additional compliance flexibility to vehicle owners. The approved amendments are currently not in effect. Some details are being revised to reflect the Board's decision and will be made available for public comment before the amendments will be finalized.
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This area of the Off-Road Mobile Sources website pertains to off-road large spark-ignition (LSI) equipment greater than 25 horsepower, including farm, construction and industrial equipment, powered by gasoline and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and other alternate fuels. Typical applications that use LSI engines include forklifts, specialty vehicles, airport service vehicles, large turf care equipment, portable generators and a wide array of other agricultural, construction and general industrial equipment. The U.S. EPA has sole authority to control new farm and construction equipment under 175 horsepower.
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The small off-road engine (SORE) category consists of off-road spark-ignition engines below 25 horsepower, including small utility equipment, lawn mowers and weed trimmers. This category does not include compression-ignition engines, watercraft or recreational vehicles. The following includes general information regarding small off-road engines and ARB's SORE program:
Small Off-Road Engines Fact Sheet and Certification Guidelines - Online access to relevant certification documents for manufacturers.
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All diesel-fueled trucks, buses, trailers and transportation refrigeration units operating in California, including those based out of state, have requirements to reduce air pollution and improve the state's overall air quality.

See the new 2014 Reporting Guide!
The Truck Regulation Upload, Compliance, and Reporting System (TRUCRS) and the Online Reporting Guide were recently updated. Also, see more information for:

Course #521: How to Comply with the Truck and Bus Regulation.
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In December 2011 major amendments to the Off-Road Diesel Vehicle Regulation, which include delaying the first compliance date to no earlier than January 1, 2014, became effective. The changes to the regulation are reflected in the fact sheets, advisories and answers to frequently asked questions available on the Knowledge Center for the Off-Road Diesel Vehicle Regulation web page.
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Driving Toward a Cleaner California (DTCC) is a coalition of owner-operators, farmers, construction contractors and other business and community leaders committed to working with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to craft a sensible truck and bus replacement rule that both cleans the air and keeps California's economy moving forward. However, we have to apologize -- with a high volume of news, we have been overwhelmed with keeping up with the latest industry news. Our staff will be working on getting you the latest updates. In the meantime, you may also visit our sister affiliate site for the latest on CARB, AB32, and any related news to the industry. Click on "Learn More" to access this site.
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