Life on the road

New truck fuel-mileage standards

President Barack Obama’s recent presidential memorandum calling for the first-ever fuel-economy standards for heavy trucks has drawn mixed reaction from the trucking industry. While several truck and engine manufacturers and industry associations say they are eager to work toward the goal of boosting big-rig fuel efficiency, others express concern about the potential cost, especially small fleet owners and owner-operators who could be compelled to upgrade their fleets with more expensive, fuel-efficient tractors in the not-so-distant future. Just about everyone agrees that “the devil is in the details,” which have yet to be determined.
     This much we know: The Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency have been directed to collaborate on a rule setting limits on the fuel consumed and emissions produced by large commercial vehicles beginning with the 2014 model year. What has yet to be determined is what those limits and standards will be. In his remarks announcing the memorandum, President Obama said that using existing technology, tractor-trailers could achieve as much as a 25 percent increase in fuel efficiency within the next few years. Mileage would be calculated using a formula of gallons per ton-mile.
     “This is going to bring down the costs for transporting goods, serving businesses and consumers alike,” Obama said. “It will reduce pollution, given that freight vehicles produce roughly one-fifth of the greenhouse gas emissions related to transportation.” The heavy truck memorandum comes right on the heels of the Obama administration’s proposed new standards for cars and light trucks for the 2012-2016 model years aimed at reaching a fleet average of 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016. This is nearly 10 miles per gallon more than the current average.
     The feds aim to issue a final rule on the heavy truck standards by July 30, 2011. During the next year, while drafting the new rule, the feds will consider several criteria, including existing strategies and technologies for reducing fuel consumption and the “market structure of the trucking industry and the unique demands of heavy-duty vehicle applications.” Look for trucking industry experts and organizations to weigh in with their opinions during the drafting process.
     “We set out in 2007 to have the trucking industry become leaders on this issue when the EPA would begin to regulate truck fuel economy,” said American Trucking Associations Chairman Tommy Hodges, who attended the presidential memorandum announcement at the White House. “Today we reached one of our goals…the industry {will have] an opportunity to have significant input on this issue.”
     Added Volvo’s Dennis Slagle in a separate statement: “Participating in this effort is consistent with measures we already have in place to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our operations and our products.”
     The Owner-Operator Independent Driver Association was far more reserved. “You can’t look at all of trucking one dimensionally where everybody has the same type of operation and the same equipment,” OOIDA Director of Regulatory Affairs Joe Rajkovacz said of the memorandum. “That’s going to be the most difficult part of this for our members to support.”