The proof and the offer
Sam’s is a CARB Clean Truck Check credentialed testing facility. The test is done by a credentialed tester with the equipment CARB requires, and the result goes into CARB’s database during your visit, not mailed in later.
The price is $189 plus tax, flat. If the truck fails and we do the repair, the retest is free.
You do not have to be based in California. If the truck runs there and weighs over 14,000 lbs GVWR, this applies to you, and Toledo is a lot closer to the I-80 lane you are already in than a test station on the far end of the trip.
Who has to do this
The Clean Truck Check, CARB’s heavy-duty inspection and maintenance (HD I/M) program, covers:
- Diesel vehicles over 14,000 lbs GVWR
- Alternative-fuel vehicles over 14,000 lbs GVWR
- Vehicles operating in California, whether registered in California, Ohio, Michigan or anywhere else
The program has three parts. The vehicle is reported in CARB’s Clean Truck Check vehicle inspection system (CTC-VIS) and the annual compliance fee is paid. Then the vehicle passes a periodic emissions test by a credentialed tester within its compliance window. Then it stays compliant: test deadlines are tied to the vehicle’s registration date and recur through the year, twice a year today, with CARB scheduled to raise the frequency for OBD-equipped vehicles in 2027.
Miss a deadline and California holds the registration on a California-plated truck, and out-of-state trucks get cited at roadside and at the scales. Fleet owners carry the exposure for every truck on the list.
We are not your compliance department, but we know the program, and we will tell you where the truck stands when it comes in.
What the test is
Which test depends on the engine year:
- 2013 and newer diesel: OBD test. The tester connects to the truck’s diagnostic port and pulls readiness monitors, fault codes and the emissions data CARB specifies. No tailpipe probe.
- 2018 and newer alternative fuel: OBD test, same procedure.
- 2012 and older diesel: smoke opacity test, with a meter on the exhaust during a snap-acceleration procedure.
Every test includes a visual inspection of the emissions control equipment. A missing or tampered DPF, a bypassed EGR or an aftermarket delete is a fail with no retest until it is put right.
Results upload to CARB in real time. You leave with the compliance certificate, and the record is already in the system a California inspector will look up at the scale.
What makes a truck fail, and what to do about it
Most OBD failures are not mystery emissions problems. They are:
- Active or pending emissions fault codes, usually aftertreatment: DPF pressure, NOx sensors, DEF quality, SCR efficiency.
- Readiness monitors not set because the codes were recently cleared, the batteries were disconnected, or the truck has not run a full drive cycle.
- A communication problem at the diagnostic port.
Opacity failures are usually a worn or deleted aftertreatment system, an injector or turbo problem, or an engine that is overdue for its PM.
If the truck fails, you are in the right building. The aftertreatment work happens in bay 10 and engine work in bay 09, with Cummins certified and International certified technicians and NAPA parts on site. When the repair is done and the monitors are set, the retest is free and the pass goes to CARB before you leave.
Our advice: do not clear codes the day before a test. It erases the readiness monitors and costs you the test.
Before you arrive
- Have the VIN and the CTC-VIS vehicle record or your fleet’s account information. If the vehicle is not reported yet, we will tell you what CARB needs before the test counts.
- Drive the truck in warm. OBD readiness needs a completed drive cycle; a cold-start arrival can leave monitors incomplete.
- Bring the truck with no active fault lamps. If one is on, book the diagnosis first.
- Appointments are not required, but booking holds the slot. The test runs about 30 to 45 minutes for OBD and about an hour for opacity, during shop hours, Monday to Friday 8 to 5.
Where
820 Matzinger Rd, Toledo, OH 43612. Off I-75 in north Toledo, close to I-280 and the Ohio Turnpike. Westbound drivers on I-80/90 can test here and keep rolling. Fleets in Toledo, Perrysburg, Maumee, Sylvania, Bowling Green, Findlay and southeast Michigan with California lanes can schedule a batch during the week.
Book with the 30-second request form or call (419) 724-2475. Say the engine year and whether it is diesel or alternative fuel, and we will have the right test ready.