Editorial: Next-Generation Trucks Are Here
This Editorial appears in the Jan. 11 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.
No sooner than we ripped the plastic off our 2016 calendars came yet more news about the connection between the federal government and trucking. This time it came in the form of engines and emissions limits.
Independent engine maker Cummins Inc. said the Environmental Protection Agency has signed off on the manufacturer’s 5- to 15-liter, heavy- and medium-duty diesel truck engines as meeting the carbon dioxide levels that will take effect Jan. 1, 2017 — the second half of Phase 1 greenhouse-gas rules. The first half of Phase 1 started January 2014.
Not to make this even more confusing, but the engine divisions of truck makers Daimler Trucks North America, Navistar International, Paccar Inc. and Volvo Group will be making their Phase 1, Part 2 compliance announcements concerning next year’s vehicles at the same time the industry waits to hear from EPA on the final form of Phase 2 of greenhousegas regulation.
As we mentioned in our recent Year in Review and Preview stories, EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration published a proposed GHG rule for trucks last year, and the final regulation is expected by July 31. It will have more than two rollout dates and should be among the biggest trucking stories of the year. Such a regulation plays a major role in shaping truck making and sales for years to come.
Every three or so years has produced a new generation of trucks, characterized by engine requirements: The fall of 2002 through 2006 was the introduction of exhaust-gas recirculation; 2007 to 2009 added diesel particulate filters and ultra-low-sulfur diesel; 2010 to 2013 saw the dawn of selective catalytic reduction and the lowest point for nitrogenoxide compounds and particulate matter — so far.
Since 2014, the generations are related to carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and the threeor four-year cycles will continue well into the 2020s, or so said the GHG proposal.
Engineers have been doing amazing things with powertrain and vehicle designs, and that trend should continue for a while at least and maybe longer, but at a cost. New tractor prices leap far ahead of the consumer price index, thereby making the used-truck market absolutely critical.
Scientific advancement marches forward, as do population and the demand for goods and products — including clean air. We are delighted that so far his is all working reasonably well, but we do wonder at times how far it all can go.
