California Is Destroying the Trucking Industry

— And Bob Archuleta Helped It Happen

By Araceli Martinez

I grew up around the trucking industry.

For me, trucking isn't some abstract industry Sacramento politicians discuss in committee hearings. I know the families behind these trucks. I know the small-business owners who started with one truck, worked ridiculous hours, sacrificed time with their families, and eventually built something they could call their own.

And for the last 20 years, I've watched California make it harder and harder for those people to survive.

Fees. Testing. Regulations. Employment restrictions. Environmental mandates.

One after another.

And politicians like State Senator Bob Archuleta have helped push California further down that road.

Now Sacramento wants to fundamentally transform the trucking industry by moving it away from diesel and toward zero-emission technology.

That might sound wonderful when you're sitting behind a desk in Sacramento.

But have these politicians actually asked a small owner-operator what that transition costs?

Because California's own numbers tell an incredible story.

According to the California Air Resources Board, the average purchase price in its 2024 data for a zero-emission Class 8 day cab was approximately $435,839.

The average price CARB used for a comparable diesel truck?

$155,902.

That's approximately a $280,000 difference.

Think about what that means for a small-business owner.

A massive corporation operating hundreds or thousands of trucks might have access to financing, government incentives, tax professionals and an entire compliance department.

But what about the guy with one truck?

What about the father who wakes up at 3:00 in the morning, gets into his truck and works all day because that's how he puts food on his family's table?

What about the immigrant who saved for years to buy a used diesel truck because owning that truck represented his opportunity to become a business owner instead of somebody's employee?

Those are the people Sacramento seems to forget.

Bob Archuleta Helped Push California Away From Diesel

Bob Archuleta authored SB 895.

That legislation redirected state support previously earmarked for clean-diesel technology toward zero-emission fuels, infrastructure and transportation technology.

And Archuleta wasn't shy about what he wanted this transition to accomplish.

His own Senate office promoted zero-emission alternatives as technology capable of replacing diesel trucks and buses.

This wasn't about giving truckers another choice.

It was part of California's larger political movement away from diesel.

And here's where Californians should start asking questions.

Follow the money.

Archuleta's political campaigns have received contributions from major energy, electrical and labor interests.

Some of these sectors stand to participate in the enormous infrastructure buildout associated with California's transition toward electrification and other zero-emission technologies.

And Archuleta's own office said he worked “in collaboration with the entire zero-emission vehicle industry” while developing SB 895.

Let me be clear: a campaign contribution by itself does not prove somebody bought a politician's vote.

But voters absolutely have the right to ask questions.

When politicians champion an enormous economic transition, we should know who benefits from that transition, who is helping finance their campaigns — and, most importantly, who is paying the bill.

Because right now, I know who is worried about paying it.

Small-business owners.

Trucking Is the Backbone of California

People don't realize how important trucking is until the trucks stop moving.

Look around your house.

Your groceries.

Your clothes.

Your furniture.

The lumber used to build your home.

The equipment used by businesses.

The products sitting on store shelves.

At some point, virtually everything around you depends on freight transportation.

California is also home to one of America's most important freight gateways. Goods arriving through our ports have to move from ships to warehouses, distribution centers, stores and eventually consumers.

Truckers make that happen.

Yet California continues treating these men and women like they're the problem.

Politicians can talk about a “green transition” all they want, but somebody has to explain how the small-business owner is supposed to pay for it.

A truck isn't a luxury for an owner-operator.

It's his business.

If government policy makes the equipment necessary to operate that business dramatically more expensive, you're creating a massive advantage for companies with enough capital to absorb those costs.

And that's what scares me.

Because eventually you don't have thousands of independent entrepreneurs competing in the marketplace.

You have fewer small operators and increasingly powerful corporations capable of navigating California's regulatory maze.

That's not protecting working people.

That's pricing them out.

I Refuse to Accept That

There is nothing wrong with developing cleaner technology.

There is nothing wrong with creating electric trucks, hydrogen trucks or whatever incredible technology American companies invent next.

Innovation is a good thing.

But innovation should eventually make people's lives better and more affordable.

Government shouldn't destroy somebody's livelihood trying to force the market to move faster than ordinary people can afford.

Give truckers options.

Let technology compete.

Let prices come down.

Build the infrastructure.

And stop treating the independent owner-operator like collateral damage.

Bob Archuleta and Sacramento politicians have had years to understand this.

Instead, small trucking businesses keep getting squeezed.

I grew up watching these families work.

I know what these businesses mean to them.

And I'm not going to sit quietly while Sacramento creates policies that make it increasingly difficult for the next generation to own a truck, build a company and achieve the American Dream.

California doesn't move without truckers.

It's time our government started treating them that way.

Save our truckers. Save our small businesses. And stop pricing the American Dream out of California.

— Araceli Martinez