Letters to the Editor: Reefer Rules, Fuel Tax Increase, Left Lane ‘Ban’
These letters appear in the Feb. 11 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.
Reefer Rules
Transport Topics does a service to its readership with its continuing coverage of environmental regulations, and the Jan. 21 issue is no exception.
The article “Only ‘Clean’ Reefers Allowed” in your Equipment & Maintenance Update supplement helps to shed light on the fact that this is a critical year for fleets and owner-operators bringing refrigerated trailers into California (p. 1).
As I discussed with the reporter, by the end of 2008, certain older refrigeration units will need to be removed from service in California, upgraded with a newer engine or outfitted with a diesel particulate filter that is verified by the California Air Resources Board.
In response to the reporter’s question about why Carrier is developing its own DPF solution, rather than the engine manufacturer, I explained that it is the refrigeration system manufacturer’s responsibility to provide a DPF solution, which does not necessarily need to come from the engine manufacturer. However, the quote that appeared in the magazine, “Anybody can develop a solution and get it certified,” was lacking this context.
Make no mistake; developing a DPF is a sophisticated engineering challenge that cannot be met by just anybody. And, as anyone in this business can tell you, CARB does not verify equipment without considerable scrutiny.
We look forward to talking with TT again later this year when our DPF program is complete.
Ignacio Aguerrevere
Director of Marketing and
Product Development
Carrier Transicold
Athens, Ga.
Fuel Tax Increase
All we need is a 40-cent tax increase — small businesses are having a hard enough time already (1-14, p. 1).
The public is cutting back spending. We cannot continue to raise retail prices, and the consumer will not continue to be able to buy.
Mismanagement of current tax dollars seems to be a major concern across the board, be it by federal, state or city tax structures. Government agencies cannot be given blank checks,
and the public should not continue to pay for errors made by said agencies.
We have to get real and hold those in control of our tax dollars accountable. John Q. Public is not an open money pit. We cut back. Let those in control cut back and better manage what they already collect and, in many cases, waste.
Barbara Nelson
Project Manager
Glutenfreeda Foods
Burlington, Wash.
Left Lane ‘Ban’
Over here in Southwest Florida, the majority of the truck drivers I’ve seen are now driving in the right lane most of the time and are going at or below the speed limit to conserve fuel. We’re not as densely populated as the Miami-Dade area, so I wonder if, in the end, anyone will even notice the turnpike’s change requiring most vehicles to use the left lane only for passing (1-28, p. 25)?
For one 40-mile stretch, a truck driver has fewer options — and then it’s over. What are we talking here? Thirty to 40 minutes if the traffic is light?
Grayson Porter
Sales and Analysis
Three Palms Consulting LLC
Fort Myers, Fla.
I’ve always wondered why someone from one side of the fence is always making decisions that affect those on the other side of the fence. Restricting lane usage works in most cases. However, for the most part, passenger cars would rather use the two right lanes more than the third or fourth lanes.
The idea of big trucks and four-wheelers sharing the road will work only if we all make it work. There are no laws that can make this happen.
Patience and regard for everyone’s safety should be our primary goal. If whoever makes these new rules would only spend a day or two riding with a truck driver, I’m sure he or she would see how traffic really flows — or in most cases, doesn’t flow.
R.J. Burns
Driver
Upstaging Inc.
Los Angeles
