First Ever Fuel Efficiency Standards For Trucks & Heavy Duty Vehicles

Aug 9: At a meeting with industry officials at Interstate Moving Services in Springfield, Virginia, President Obama announced the first of their kind fuel efficiency standards for work trucks, buses, and other heavy duty vehicles. The new standards are designed to provide American businesses, who operate and own these commercial vehicles, tens of billions of dollars in fuel savings, and to dramatically reduce oil consumption and cut pollution.

 

    According to a White House release, the standards, will save American businesses who operate and own these commercial vehicles approximately $50 billion in fuel costs over the life of the program. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the U.S. EPA developed the standards in close coordination with the companies that met with the President today as well as other stakeholders, following requests from companies to develop this program. The cost savings for American businesses are on top of the $1.7 trillion that American families will save at the pump from the historic fuel-efficiency standards announced by the Obama Administrations for cars and light duty trucks, including the model year 2017-2025 agreement announced by the President last month [See WIMS 7/29/11].  

    The President said, "While we were working to improve the efficiency of cars and light-duty trucks, something interesting happened. We started getting letters asking that we do the same for medium and heavy-duty trucks. They were from the people who build, buy, and drive these trucks. And today, I'm proud to have the support of these companies as we announce the first-ever national policy to increase fuel efficiency and decrease greenhouse gas pollution from medium-and heavy-duty trucks."

    DOT Secretary Ray LaHood said, "Thanks to the Obama Administration, for the first time in our history we have a common goal for increasing the fuel efficiency of the trucks that deliver our products, the vehicles we use at work, and the buses our children ride to school. These new standards will reduce fuel costs for businesses, encourage innovation in the manufacturing sector, and promote energy independence for America." EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said, "This Administration is committed to protecting the air we breathe and cutting carbon pollution -- and programs like these ensure that we can serve those priorities while also reducing our dependence on imported oil and saving money for drivers. More efficient trucks on our highways and less pollution from the buses in our neighborhoods will allow us to breathe cleaner air and use less oil, providing a wide range of benefits to our health, our environment and our economy."

    The White House indicated that under the comprehensive new national program, trucks and buses built in 2014 through 2018 will reduce oil consumption by a projected 530 million barrels and greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution by approximately 270 million metric tons. Like the recently proposed CAFE standards, this program -- which relies heavily on off-the-shelf technologies – was developed in coordination with truck and engine manufacturers, fleet owners, the State of California, environmental groups and other stakeholders.  

    The joint DOT/EPA program will include a range of targets which are specific to the diverse vehicle types and purposes.  Vehicles are divided into three major categories: combination tractors (semi-trucks), heavy-duty pickup trucks and vans, and vocational vehicles (like transit buses and refuse trucks). Within each of those categories, even more specific targets are laid out based on the design and purpose of the vehicle. The flexible structure allows serious but achievable fuel efficiency improvement goals charted for each year and for each vehicle category and type.  

    According to the White House, a semi-truck operator could pay for the technology upgrades in under a year and realize net savings of $73,000 through reduced fuel costs over the truck's useful life. These cost saving standards will also reduce emissions of harmful air pollutants like particulate matter, which can lead to asthma, heart attacks and premature death. By the 2018 model year, the program is expected to achieve significant savings relative to current levels, across vehicle types.  Certain combination tractors -- commonly known as big-rigs or semi-trucks -- will be required to achieve up to approximately 20 percent reduction in fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by model year 2018, saving up to 4 gallons of fuel for every 100 miles traveled.

    For heavy-duty pickup trucks and vans, separate standards are required for gasoline-powered and diesel trucks. These vehicles will be required to achieve up to approximately 15 percent reduction in fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by model year 2018. Under the finalized standards a typical gasoline or diesel powered heavy-duty pickup truck or van could save one gallon of fuel for every 100 miles traveled.

Vocational vehicles -- including delivery trucks, buses, and garbage trucks -- will be required to reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 10 percent by model year 2018. These trucks could save an average of one gallon of fuel for every 100 miles traveled.

    Access a release from the White House (click here). Access complete detailed information including fact sheets, prepublication copy, modeling, regulatory impact analysis, response to comments and more from EPA's website (click here). Access more information from the NHTSA website (click here). [#Energy/Efficiency, #Climate, #Air]

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