* DC - EPA lays out its plan to wring more MPG from trucks
-- The Obama administration on Friday proposed tough new standards to improve fuel efficiency and reduce carbon dioxide pollution from trucks and vans, the latest move by President Barack Obama to address global warming... The new rules are designed to slash heat-trapping carbon emissions by 24 percent by 2027 while reducing oil consumption by up to 1.8 billion barrels over the lifetime of the vehicles sold under the rule... Medium- and heavy-duty vehicles account for about 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions and oil use in the U.S.A. transportation sector, polluting the air and contributing to climate change. The trucks and vans account for only 5 percent of vehicles on the road... The long-expected trucks rule comes one day after Pope Francis issued a teaching document calling for the world to take action to slow climate change... Under the new rule, a best-in-class, long-haul truck carrying 68,000 pounds of cargo is expected to get at least 10 miles per gallon, up from a range of 5 to 7 miles per gallon today, the EPA said... The American Trucking Association said industry generally supports the new rules, but remains concerned that it may result in use of technologies on vehicles before they can be fully tested. ATA officials said truck and engine manufacturers need time to develop solutions to meet the new standards... The proposed standards would cover model years 2021-2027 and apply to semi-trucks, large pickup trucks and vans, and all types and sizes of buses and work trucks, officials said... The National Automobile Dealers Association and American Truck Dealers blasted the rule, saying it would add an average of nearly $12,000 to the cost of a new truck... The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association of Grain Valley, Missouri, which counts 150,000 members, said it was concerned that the rules would "push truckers to purchase technology that is not fully tested and may lead to costs such as increased maintenance and down time that will eclipse the potential savings estimated in the proposal" ... Once completed, the rules are expected to lower carbon dioxide emissions by about 1 billion metric tons... The rule builds on fuel efficiency and carbon pollution standards already in place for model years 2014-2018. Those rules are expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 270 million metric tons and save vehicle owners more than $50 billion in fuel costs, compared to previous standards...
(Photo from WALMART: Walmart's WAVE concept truck is made of carbon fiber and uses a turbine-powered battery-electric hybrid drivetrain. It's all about showcasing new ways of making trucking more fuel efficient) -- Washington, DC, USA - AP/CBS News - June 19, 2015
* Illinois - Trucker working in East Dundee to develop a more efficient rig
-- Michael Niss is a man on a mission, and come August, he'll be rolling that mission down North America's highways... Those drives will be in his own semi as he gets back to work as an operator hauling loads of all sorts through Minnesota-based Long Haul Trucking. His mobile experiment is his rig, dubbed Faith, which he has customized from existing equipment and technologies — with a few tweaks of his own making — in an attempt to reach the goal of getting 11 miles per gallon or more in fuel efficiency... Niss calls his start-up Breaking11... In his third year of driving and his first owning his own rig, Niss said he was able to experiment to improve his fuel economy from 6.4 mpg to 8.1 mpg... Moves to that end included reducing drag, changing tires and lubricants, and adjusting his driving habits to keep his speed between 62 mph and 64 mph. He also installed wheel covers, switched type of air filters, and added a custom nose and aluminum wrap on the underside of the vehicle... His current, relatively new, low-mileage vehicle — which cost about $200,000 — incorporates those prior moves with others Niss has been developing...
(Photo: Michael Niss and his Breaking11 truck) -- East Dundee, ILL, USA - Elgin Courier-News. by Mike Danahey - 20 June 2015Labels: anti-pollution, rules and regulations
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