California Truckers Face Jan. 1 Fuel-Efficiency Equipment Deadline

Many large carriers operating in California face a Jan. 1 deadline to have SmartWay-approved fuel efficient aerodynamic technology equipment installed on 15% of their pre-2011 trailer fleet.

Others that signed up late for a phase-in option must have 20% of their 53-foot or longer dry van or refrigerated trailers equipped with the technology by Jan. 1.

To comply with the California Air Resources Board’s regulation, all carriers that operate box van trailers in California must install one of more of SmartWay-approved technologies such as side skirts, front gap fairings, or rear trailer fairings that are rated to improve fuel efficiency by at least 5%.

Refrigerated carriers must choose trailer aerodynamic technologies that improve fuel efficiency by 4% or more.

The SmartWay Transport Partnership is a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency program that certifies trucks and other equipment as being fuel efficient.

EPA this summer expanded the SmartWay program to include drayage trucks.

“What a fleet has to do is go to the SmartWay website that lists which technologies have been approved at different fuel saving levels,” said Mike Tunnell, director of environmental affairs for American Trucking Associations.

“They’ll need to pick from the menu one of the 5% or greater fuel-saving technologies,” said Tunnell, who is based in California.

Carriers that did not register for a phase-in compliance plan will need to bring all of their pre-2011 trailers into compliance by Jan. 1, 2013.

Regardless of which option large carriers choose, they all must have 100% of their fleets equipped with the aerodynamic technologies by Jan. 1, 2016.

Small fleets — those with 20 or fewer trailers — have until the middle of 2012 to sign up for a phase-in plan, but must have 25% of their trailer fleet equipped with the technologies by Jan. 1, 2014, increasing to 100% by Jan. 1, 2017.

CARB estimates that the technologies will cost roughly $2,100 for a sleeper trailer and $2,900 for other trailers, but Tunnell said the cost could be higher.

ATA and other industry stakeholders have complained that the greenhouse gas regulation, first approved by CARB’s board in 2008, does not offer enough flexibility for carriers to bring their fleets into compliance.