On September 3, 2026, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the nonprofit CALSTART launched two incentive programs worth a combined $45 million, aimed at getting zero-emission trucks and the charging infrastructure they need onto the roads around the East Coast's busiest seaport. It is not a small commitment, and it is not a vague one either: the announcement names two specific programs, specific dollar figures, and a specific geographic boundary, ten miles from a Port Authority seaport or marine terminal, for where the charging money can be spent.
That specificity is the story. Most federal and state EV charging money moves in broad strokes: statewide formula programs, corridor grants, tax credits open to almost anyone. This one is a targeted intervention in a single freight bottleneck, the trucks that haul containers between the Port of New York and New Jersey's marine terminals and the warehouses, rail yards, and distribution centers around them. If that is not your business, this program was not built for you. If it is, the details are worth reading closely, because the pool of eligible hub sites is capped at five.
What the two programs actually fund
The Port Authority and CALSTART describe the combined package as $45 million, though the two named components as reported add up to $44 million: $39 million for the CTI program and $5 million for the GDA program. Neither organization had published a line-item accounting of the remaining $1 million as of this writing, so treat $45 million as the announced headline figure and $39 million and $5 million as the two funded programs within it, rather than assuming the math resolves to the dollar.
The Clean Truck Incentive (CTI) Program is the larger piece, up to $39 million in point-of-sale vouchers that reduce the purchase price of zero-emission drayage trucks, yard tractors ("terminal tractors" or "hostlers" in port language), and the charging equipment that goes with them. Point-of-sale means the discount applies when a buyer purchases the equipment, rather than requiring a separate reimbursement claim later, the same basic mechanic used in California's long-running HVIP voucher program for heavy-duty trucks.
The Green Drayage Accelerator (GDA) is the smaller and more geographically specific piece: $5 million to help build up to five electric truck charging hubs, each sited within 10 miles of a Port Authority seaport or marine terminal facility. That is a meaningful design choice. Drayage trucks make short, repetitive runs between the port and nearby logistics facilities, so a charging hub close to the terminal fits how these trucks actually operate, closer to a return-to-base depot pattern than to a highway corridor stop.
Both programs draw on the same underlying pool of money: a $451 million grant the Port Authority won from the US Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Ports Program in 2024, the largest sustainability grant in the Port Authority's history. That broader award also funds electric cargo-handling equipment at marine terminals and shore power infrastructure that lets container ships plug in at berth instead of running diesel generators while docked. The $45 million in CTI and GDA funding announced this month is a carved-out slice of that larger grant, focused specifically on trucks and truck charging.
It is worth noting what did not happen to this money. The EPA's Clean Ports Program, funded out of the 2021 infrastructure law, hit real turbulence starting in 2025: several other ports' Clean Ports awards were frozen or paused amid a broader federal pullback from clean-energy grants, and some of that freeze is still working through the courts. The Port Authority's $451 million grant is one that kept moving; this September 2026 launch is that money reaching the implementation stage rather than a new commitment. A property owner or carrier relying on a different port's Clean Ports award should confirm that award's current status separately, since not every port's funding has had the same outcome.
Datable milestones
- 2024. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is awarded $451 million through the EPA's Clean Ports Program, its largest sustainability grant to date.
- September 3, 2026. The Port Authority and CALSTART announce the $45 million Clean Truck Incentive Program and Green Drayage Accelerator, with CALSTART named as program designer and administrator.
- Coming weeks (as of this writing). Port Authority and CALSTART staff begin outreach to the trucking community through in-person and online presentations and informational materials; detailed eligibility and application procedures had not been published as of early September 2026.
- This fall. CALSTART begins formally administering both programs.
- 2028. CALSTART builds tracking dashboards monitoring deployment progress, vehicle performance, and charger utilization, then transfers those dashboards to the Port Authority.
Who this matters to, and who can skip it
This is a narrow-audience story, and it is worth being direct about who that audience is rather than stretching the news to sound bigger than it is.
It matters to drayage carriers and fleet operators that regularly move containers in and out of Port Newark, Port Elizabeth, Howland Hook, or the Port Authority's other New York and New Jersey marine terminals: the CTI vouchers make a real dent in the price gap between a diesel drayage truck or yard tractor and a zero-emission one. It also matters to the small set of commercial property owners, warehouse operators, and logistics park developers within roughly 10 miles of one of those terminals who have land that could plausibly host one of the five Green Drayage Accelerator charging hubs. That is a genuinely useful thing to know if you are already planning to electrify a drayage fleet or have been approached about hosting truck charging near the port, because it is real money attached to a real, near-term program rather than a proposal still working through a legislature.
It does not matter, at least not directly, to office parks, retail centers, multifamily buildings, or any commercial property outside that 10-mile radius or outside the drayage-truck use case. Passenger-vehicle DC fast charging, workplace Level 2 charging, and destination charging at retail or hospitality properties are not what either program funds. If your interest in EV charging is any of those, this program is a data point about how targeted freight-specific incentives are getting, not a funding source to pursue.
How the two programs compare
| Clean Truck Incentive (CTI) | Green Drayage Accelerator (GDA) |
|---|
| Funding | Up to $39 million | $5 million |
| Mechanism | Point-of-sale vouchers | Grants toward hub construction |
| What it buys | Zero-emission drayage trucks, yard tractors, and charging equipment | Up to five off-site electric truck charging hubs |
| Where | No stated distance limit disclosed in the announcement | Within 10 miles of a Port Authority seaport or marine terminal |
| Who it's for | Drayage carriers and terminal operators buying equipment | Property owners or developers able to site and build a hub |
| Administrator | CALSTART, starting fall 2026 | CALSTART, starting fall 2026 |
Figures and terms are as announced September 3, 2026; the Port Authority and CALSTART had not published detailed eligibility rules or an application portal as of this writing.
⏳ Time-sensitive: The Green Drayage Accelerator is capped at five hub sites and $5 million, and outreach to the trucking and logistics community was scheduled to begin in the weeks following the September 3, 2026 announcement. A capped, first-come program like this one is exactly the kind of thing where waiting for a formal application to appear in a web search is slower than getting on CALSTART's or the Port Authority's outreach list directly.
What the announcement leaves out
Neither the Port Authority nor CALSTART had published a formal application process, scoring criteria, or a fixed application deadline as of this writing; the public description so far is that outreach begins "in the coming weeks" through presentations and informational materials, with the programs formally launching this fall. Property owners interested in hosting one of the five GDA hubs should expect to work directly with CALSTART or the Port Authority for current eligibility and application details rather than relying on secondary coverage, including this article, for that information.
It is also worth being clear about scope. This is a Port of New York and New Jersey program, not a national one. The underlying $451 million EPA Clean Ports grant funds several categories of work at this specific port complex, and the $45 million described here is one slice of it. Similar Clean Ports Program grants went to other ports around the country in the same funding round, each with its own local programs and timelines; a similar-sounding announcement at another port is a separate program with its own rules.
What to do now
- Confirm whether your operation or property sits within the eligible footprint. The CTI program targets trucks and tractors serving Port Authority drayage operations; the GDA hub program is bounded at 10 miles from a Port Authority seaport or marine terminal. If you are outside that footprint, this specific program does not apply to you.
- Get on the outreach list now, rather than waiting for a public application to surface. With outreach starting in the weeks after the announcement and only five GDA hub slots available, carriers and site hosts who make contact early are better positioned than those who wait for a fully public rollout.
- If you operate drayage trucks or yard tractors at the port, price the total cost with the voucher in mind, not just the incentive amount. A point-of-sale voucher changes the upfront math on zero-emission equipment, but the charging infrastructure and utility service behind it are still a separate project with their own lead times; our guide to phasing a fleet depot's electrical buildout and to utility make-ready programs cover that side of the work.
- Do not assume this program extends beyond trucks and drayage. If your interest is passenger EV charging or a retail or office property outside the 10-mile zone, look instead at the broader federal and state options in our NEVI, CFI, and IRA programs guide, and weigh the underlying economics with our fleet electrification ROI analysis.
A $45 million program aimed at five charging hubs and a defined pool of drayage trucks is a small, specific thing next to the site's usual coverage of national programs and mass-market chargers. That is also exactly why it is worth flagging: for the carriers and property owners inside its 10-mile line, this is real, near-term money, administered by an organization with a multi-year track record running similar voucher programs, moving toward a launch this fall rather than sitting in a press release with no path to action.
Last factually verified: 2026-09-09 against the Port Authority and CALSTART's September 3, 2026 program announcement (calstart.org), corroborated across AJOT, Transport Topics, Government Fleet, ROI-NJ, Commercial Carrier Journal, Heavy Duty Trucking, Truck News, electrive, WorldCargoNews, and Electrek coverage published September 3 to 7, 2026; the EPA's own release on the underlying 2024 Clean Ports Program grant to the Port Authority; and CleanTechnica's September 6, 2026 reporting on the Clean Ports Program's broader 2025 funding freezes and this grant's status. Full-page fetches of the primary announcement and every trade outlet returned access errors this session (a recurring tooling issue), so verification relied on cross-checking search-indexed excerpts of each source against the others rather than reading complete primary text. evcharginghelp.com is editorially independent and receives no compensation from any company or organization named here.