A Guide to California’s Periodic Smoke Inspection Program

[Tami Paulus]

If you drive a truck licensed in the State of California, or even if your route regularly takes you through the state, then you probably know all about California's rather strict regulations when it comes to getting a smoke test done on your rigs each and every year. The California Air Resource Board mandates these smoke / opacity tests, and while they may seem like a headache, they are designed with good intentions.

California has historically been no stranger to air pollution, though air quality is now improving year after year, and these smoke tests don't have to take you off the road for long or put much of a dent in your wallet when you use the right company to conduct them.

The California Air Resource Board's regulations require that every CA-based company with more than one heavy duty, diesel engine vehicle, whether it's a big rig truck or a bus or anything in between, gets annual smoke opacity tests conducted by certified testing professionals. What many truckers (and bus drivers and vehicle operation company managers) don't know, though, is that these tests can also be conducted "in the field." A qualified agent from a good smoke test company can travel to where a vehicle or fleet of vehicles is located and test them for compliance in basically any given location. This mobile testing service is just one more way to lessen the annoyance and inconvenience of regulation compliance and keep your vehicles both as clean as they need to be and on the move like you want them to be.

 

Easy testing is good for the air of the State of California, and it's good for the people who do their business rolling around the miles and miles of road here, too.