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Passenger vehicles and lighter trucks have been required to undergo periodic emissions testing and reporting for decades through the Bureau of Automotive Repair’s Smog Check Program. Now under the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) Clean Truck Check, big trucks and other heavy-duty vehicles traveling on California’s roadways will be subject to similar requirements to ensure polluting, poorly maintained heavy-duty vehicles operating in California are quickly identified and repaired. The Clean Truck Check will provide significant reductions in smog-forming and carcinogenic toxic air pollution necessary to achieve federal air quality mandates and healthy air in California’s communities.
To be considered compliant vehicle owners must meet all compliance deadlines and:
Nearly all diesel and alternative fuel heavy-duty trucks and buses with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) over 14,000 pounds that operate in California are subject to the Clean Truck Check. This includes hybrid trucks and buses, commercial vehicles, privately-owned vehicles, motorhomes, government vehicles, and vehicles registered outside of California.
The first phase of the Clean Truck Check implementation began in January 2023 with the use of roadside emissions monitoring devices (REMD) to screen for vehicles that may have high emissions. Vehicles flagged as potential high emitters may be required to undergo follow-up vehicle compliance testing to ensure they are operating with properly functioning emissions control systems. When fully implemented in the 2024 timeframe, the Clean Truck Check will require most heavy-duty vehicles operating in California (including out-of-state vehicles) to undergo twice per year periodic compliance testing.
An OBD test submitted to the Clean Truck Check that does not meet the above criteria will get a Not Ready test result and will not meet the emissions compliance testing requirements. If your vehicle receives a “Not Ready” OBD test result, you should continue operating the vehicle under normal business practices for a few days and then have the vehicle retested.
A warm-up cycle means driving a vehicle so that the engine coolant temperature rises by at least 40 degrees Fahrenheit after the engine is started and reaches at least 140 degrees Fahrenheit for diesel engines (160 degrees for natural gas engines).
Permanent Diagnostic Trouble Codes (PDTCs) are very similar to regular Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs). However, unlike regular DTCs, they cannot be reset by disconnecting the vehicle’s battery or cleared using an OBD scan device. The only way to clear a PDTC is to fix the underlying problem with the vehicle that originally caused the PDTC to set, and then allow the vehicle sufficient drive time to re-run the Monitor that identified the problem in the first place. When the Monitor runs without identifying a problem, the PDTC will clear itself.