NORTH AMERICA REPORT
Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers has filed an antitrust lawsuit against some of the nation’s largest heavy-duty truck manufacturers alleging a plot to stifle the availability of internal-combustion semi-trucks in favor of electric ones.
In the lawsuit filed Nov. 19, Hilgers said California and the California Air Resources Board have “recently embarked on a mission to eliminate the [internal combustion engine] vehicle and mandate the electrification of our nation’s vehicle fleet.”
While other lawsuits have been filed against California and CARB attempting to halt or slow down the regulations, including one led by Hilgers to block CARB’s Advanced Clean Fleets regulation, Hilgers’ new lawsuit targets manufacturers themselves, including Daimler Truck North America (DTNA), International Motors, Paccar, Volvo Group North America, and the Truck & Engine Manufacturers Association.
“Rather than push back or simply compete in the marketplace, heavy-duty truck manufacturers colluded to sign an agreement called the ‘Clean Truck Partnership (CTP),”Hilgers said in a press release. “The agreement commits the signatory manufacturers not to oppose additional state-level electric-truck mandates and to restrict output of diesel-powered semi-trucks in lockstep, even if a court rules that the regulations are unlawful.”
Hilgers’ lawsuit calls the Clean Truck Partnership “nakedly anti-competitive,” adding that it “represents an industry-wide commitment by companies to reduce their output of ICE vehicles and eliminate consumer choice, which will drive up prices for those same vehicles in Nebraska and elsewhere to subsidize the so-called ‘transition’ to ZEVs.” Additionally, the lawsuit claims that “the OEMs’ broad promise to follow CARB’s regulations in other states that purportedly ‘will’ adopt them, and to not oppose any such out-of-state proposals, reflects the OEMs’ intention to reduce output and raise prices in states that have not and may never adopt such regulations, including Nebraska.”
The lawsuit seeks a judgement and declaration that the named defendants have violated the Nebraska Consumer Protection Act and that the CTP violates the antitrust laws of Nebraska and is, therefore, null and void in the state. The lawsuit also seeks a permanent injunction to block the defendants from reducing their output of Class 8 ICE vehicles in Nebraska pursuant to the CTP, from raising prices for Class 8 ICE trucks as a result of the CTP agreement, and from coordinating activity or taking any action pursuant to the CTP in Nebraska.
Finally, the lawsuit asks the court to declare the CTP null and void nationwide “because it will injure Nebraska residents and violate Nebraska antitrust laws if defendants comply with it in other states.
Source: CCJ Digital
PSR Analysis. The OEMs are caught between a rock and a hard place with regards to the CARB ACT emission regulations that were implemented in California in January 2024. The OEMs are in a difficult position since they are required to sell a certain percentage of zero-emission trucks or risk not being able to sell ICE trucks. Aside from up-front vehicle costs, other barriers to adoption including the lack of charging infrastructure and truck duty cycles are impeding the fleets’ ability to acquire zero-emission trucks.
At the time of this writing the EPA has not officially given a waver for CARB to enforce these rules. With the Trump Administration entering power in January, the EPA may not be inclined to give a waiver to the CARB ACT, thus likely making this legislation void.
One thing is for certain, there is currently a significant amount of confusion among the fleets in California. PSR
Chris Fisher is Senior Commercial Vehicle Analyst at Power Systems Research
