Navistar, Paccar Continuing Efforts to Achieve 2014 GHG Certification

This story appears in the Nov. 11 print edition of Transport Topics.

Navistar Inc. and Paccar Inc. said they are still in the process of earning final certifications for their 2014 truck and engine lineups in order to comply with the federal greenhouse-gas standards that take effect Jan. 1.

Other truck makers and independent engine maker Cummins Inc. confirmed to Transport Topics last week that they have been fully certified by the federal government.

“Paccar will be in full compliance with the regulations and requirements for vehicles and engines,” said Todd Acker, marketing director of Paccar unit Peterbilt Motors.

He added that Peterbilt “adopted the vehicle aspects of the regulations in advance of the mandated 2014 implementation date” and that engine certification would take effect in January.

Kurt Swihart, marketing director for Kenworth Trucks, also part of Paccar, offered a similar statement.

Navistar spokesman Steve Schrier said, “We are on track to have all of our vehicles and engines GHG-certified for 2014.”

“The majority of Navistar’s 2014 vehicle certifications will be carryover certifications from early certifying in 2013,” he said.

In response to questions from TT, the Environmental Protection Agency said it has so far certified more than 100 heavy-duty engine and vehicle models.

The agency also said it has not yet rejected any applications, but early November appears to be “peak time for processing applications; therefore, the total number for 2014 families is not yet known.”

The 2011 joint rule from EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration set the first-ever standards for truck fuel economy and carbon emissions.

During 2012, Daimler’s Freightliner and Western Star Trucks, Cummins and Volvo’s Mack and Volvo Trucks received full certification.

The rule is indicative of a new course for OEMs in their relationship with EPA, after the implementation of the nitrogen oxide (NOx) and particulate matter, soot, standards in 2010, a spokesman for the Truck & Engine Manufacturers Association said.

“Since then, this has been the primary regulatory objective of the truck manufacturers. A lot of thought and effort went into meeting this greenhouse rule,” Joe Suchecki said.

While the rules on NOx and soot remain in place, EPA and NHTSA are adding grams of carbon dioxide emissions per ton-mile and gallons of fuel used per 1,000 ton-miles moved for truck makers. Engines are rated on grams of CO2 emitted per brake horsepower-hour.

The 2014 engine standard is a 3% tightening over the EPA estimate for the average heavy-duty truck engine made in 2010. In 2017, when Phase II of the rule starts, there will be another 3% tightening, and a third level could follow after that.

At the recent Management Conference & Exhibition, American Trucking Associations President Bill Graves said the fuel standards are significant for trucking in that he expects additional efforts by EPA to improve fuel efficiency and reduce greenhouse gases.

“In this second round of changes, our industry will need to be much more attentive to the cost-benefit analysis of any proposed rule as this next step could be very expensive for our industry,” Graves said.

A Cummins spokeswoman emphasized that the technological innovations necessary for meeting the low-carbon standards also generate a twin benefit of better fuel economy.

“Cummins certified a year early to the GHG 2014 standard, and no hardware changes are being made to our 2014 engines. Going into 2013, Cummins engines delivered up to 2% fuel economy improvement versus our 2012 engines, with hardware upgrades focused on reducing parasitic losses and friction,” Tracy Kiser said.

She said the company also has worked on combustion optimization, better selective catalytic reduction aftertreatment systems and developing more torque output at lower engine rpm levels.

Kiser also said the company’s two natural-gas truck engines made with Westport Innovations are certified for 2014.

Sean Waters, Daimler Trucks North America’s director of compliance and regulatory affairs, said Daimler already is working on Phase II and expects to have fuel-saving technologies in place to meet the 2017 standard a year early.

“As EPA and NHTSA develop the next set of GHG regulations, DTNA is encouraging those regulations to not separate the engine from the entire truck, but rather to align the standards with the way a full vehicle, engine and tractor, drives in the real world and bringing still further fuel-saving technologies to our customers,” Waters said.

Volvo and Mack executives said in the December 2012 statements announcing 2014 compliance that environmental care and fuel economy have long been “core values” for Volvo Group.