Fuel Economy Rules Praised by Most Trucking Interests
This story appears in the Aug. 15 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.
Reaction to the Obama administration’s first-of-their-kind regulations limiting fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions in heavy trucks was almost unanimously positive from trucking, truck and engine manufacturers, environmental groups and others.
“Today’s announcement by President Obama is welcome news to us in the trucking industry,” American Trucking Associations President Bill Graves said in a statement. “Our members have been pushing for the setting of fuel-efficiency standards for some time, and today marks the culmination of those efforts.”
The Heavy Duty Fuel Efficiency Group, an ad hoc coalition of motor carriers and manufacturers that has pushed for the regulations since April 2010, praised the standards.
“We are pleased that the agencies listened and responded with a regulation that will preserve the ability to build and acquire vehicles needed to perform the diverse work in our economy while returning fuel cost reduction benefits in a reasonable time frame,” the group said in a statement.
The group’s members are Con-way Inc., FedEx Corp., Waste Management Inc., Cummins Inc., Wabash National Corp. and Eaton Corp.
“This is an important milestone for our industry and our country,” Douglas Stotlar, president of Con-way, said in a statement.
“Today’s progress is a win for the transportation industry, for the environment and for all Americans as we seek to decrease U.S. dependency on oil,” Fred Smith, CEO of FedEx, said in the statement.
“We really think this regulation is a model for how government and industry should work together,” Brian Mormino, director of energy policy for Cummins, told Transport Topics. “We’ve collaborated with the government . . . for several years to get to this point,” he said.
Rich Freeland, president of Cummins’ engine business, attended the White House meeting with President Obama to discuss the standards Aug. 9. Cummins said in a statement that it would meet the 2014 standards a year early, in its 2013 model engines.
Cummins will use its existing technology, including selective catalytic reduction, to meet the standards without extensive research and development, Mormino said. “We’ve already got the architecture in place,” he said.
Mormino declined to discuss how the regulations would change the price of an engine.
In addition to Mormino, Freeland and Graves, the White House meeting included Daniel Ustian, president of Navistar International Corp.; Dennis Slagle, president of Volvo Trucks North America and Mack Trucks Inc.; Tom Stover, chief technology officer of Eaton Corp.; Martin Daum, CEO of Daimler Trucks North America; and Jed Mandel, president of the Engine Manufacturers Association.
Though “it will not be easy” for Volvo to comply with the rule, the truck maker will do it, spokesman Brandon Borgna said. Volvo plans to use existing technology to meet the early standards, but the 2017 standards likely will require development of new technology, he said.
“Achieving the 2017 standards will likely require engine-related technologies that are not part of our current product offering,” Borgna said.
He could not predict how much more engines will cost due to the regulations, but he was confident it will add to the price.
Statements from Mack, Daimler and EMA also praised the standards, as did the National Wildlife Federation, League of Conservation Voters, Environmental Defense Fund and Sierra Club.
“It’s great to see Washington get something so right,” Fred Krupp, president of EDF, said in a statement. “Thanks to these new standards, everybody wins: Truck drivers save money at the pump, America imports less foreign oil and we all get to breathe cleaner air.”
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association blasted the regulations, accusing the Obama administration of ignoring small business input and overlooking less-expensive options to reduce emissions.
“By totally ignoring the impact on small-business trucking, the EPA has demonstrated yet another example of our wretchedly broken regulatory process,” Joe Rajkovacz, director of regulatory affairs for OOIDA, said in a statement. The group urged Congress to take action against the agency for issuing the rule.
A spokesman for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) also took issue with the rule, writing on Cantor’s website that “while laudable in intent, these sorts of regulations further tie the hands of job creators and add yet another hurdle to getting the economy up and running.”
