Officials Say APU Technology Not Ready to Meet Planned Calif. Regulation
By Andrea Fischer, Staff Reporter
This story appears in the July 23 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.
Technology to meet a California regulation aimed at reducing emissions from auxiliary power units will not be available in time for the state’s deadline, and that delay will increase demand for truck-stop shore-power services, executives said.
“No technology has been approved yet for diesel particulate filters on auxiliary power units,” said Karen Caesar, spokeswoman for the California Air Resources Board. “We are looking at some possibilities for that, but so far, only one manufacturer has submitted an application for a certification.”
Instead, Caesar said, truckers will have to rely on shore-power options when CARB begins to enforce its regulation. “CARB’s zero-emissions regulation for APU systems will go into effect as planned in 2008,” she said.
Jim McNamara, spokesman for Volvo Trucks North America, agreed: “VTNA is not aware of any diesel particulate filters for APUs at this time, based on discussions with APU manufacturers and emissions component suppliers.”
He said adding soot filters to APUs “will increase their cost, perhaps substantially. As a result, Volvo thinks there will be increased demand for truck-stop electrification and shore-power technologies.”
APUs provide power for air conditioning, heating and cab electrical service; they run on small engines, allowing a truck’s engine to be turned off.
CARB’s regulation states that new trucks sold in California with an APU must have “an [APU] particulate trap” unless the truck engine meets a 30 gram-per-hour nitrogen oxide standard while idling.
However, no truck engine sold today meets a 30-gph NOx standard while idling, Caesar said. No such idling emission standards are in place for truck and engine manufacturers, said Bob Clarke, president of the Truck Manufacturers Association.
Mindy Long, spokeswoman for NATSO Inc., formerly the National Association of Truck Stop Operators, said “drivers are going to have to have alternatives for idling, like shore power.” Shore-power systems allow truck drivers to “plug in” to electrical power sources used to run climate control systems and other devices without idling.
Although most APUs are powered by small diesel engines that would need to be retrofitted with a particulate filter, some use batteries or other storage devices to operate cab air conditioning and other appliances.
Paccar Inc., parent of truck manufacturers Kenworth and Peterbilt, introduced such units this year, saying they could cool a truck cab for up to 10 hours on a single charge (4-2, p. 15).
CARB’s Caesar said the agency will enforce its regulation at truck stops, ports, distribution centers and roadside inspections. She said truckers caught idling illegally in California could face hefty fines, beginning with an initial fine of $100.
Forcing truckers to depend on shore power to comply with the regulation might not be viable because not enough systems may be available at truck stops, NATSO’s Long said.
“Even if every truck stop in California needed to install systems by Jan. 1, 2008, it would not be feasible to expect all of them to have those systems running, because there are time restrictions in installing these systems,” Long said.
Lynn Youngs, chief operating officer for IdleAire, one of the nation’s largest shore-power companies, said installing such systems takes “be-tween 50 and 60 days.”
“We are responding to the demand in California created by this regulation. We have an accelerated program for deployment” in the state, Youngs said.
Youngs noted that the company now has 11 installations at truck stops in California, out of 118 sites across the nation. IdleAire lists about 80 truck stops in California with at least 50 parking spaces each.
Mike Tunnell, director of environmental affairs for American Trucking Associations, said the cost of complying with California’s regulation will make trucking in California difficult and expensive. “This regulation puts a strain on trucking companies,” he said.
