SOUTH Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) announced that it's doubling grants to US$10,000 to have trucker replace their older trucks.

The authority said in a statement that eligible truck owners will also be offered the scrap value of their pre-1994 trucks, and apply the amount to buying 2004 or later models.

A mobile office will also be set up at the port's Wando Welch Terminal each week to make it even easier for truckers to learn about the benefits of upgrading their rigs, such as improved fuel efficiency, lower maintenance costs and decreased air emissions.

Seaport Truck Air Cleanup Southeast, or STACS, is a voluntary truck replacement programme launched last autumn that provides truck owners who are frequent port users a financial incentive to replace pre-1994 model trucks with 2004 or newer models.

The incentive for the programme is funded by the SCPA, along with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) through a federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant.

This is the first such truck replacement programme in the region and so far 24 trucks have already been replaced. The STACS programme is part of the SCPA's Pledge for Growth environmental programme that has already helped fund $5 million in retrofits, upgrades and replacements to trucks, tugs and other port equipment.

According to a truck survey commissioned by the SCPA, about two per cent of the trucks that frequent the Port of Charleston were manufactured in 1993 or before. Based on EPA estimates, moving from 1993 or older trucks to 2004 or newer trucks reduces emissions 60 per cent.

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