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Jun 25, 2015

TRUCKS' TIGHTER EMISSIONS * USA: Government proposes new standards for big trucks

* 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 2015

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Jun 3, 2015

HEAVY DUTY TRUCKS NEW STANDARDS * USA: Proposed by EPA

* DC - Big trucks emit huge amounts of carbon every year
-- The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to propose new standards for heavy-duty trucks this week, regulations aimed at reducing carbon emissions from tractor trailers and other big trucks... It’s not yet known exactly what cuts the proposed regulations will call for, but according to the New York Times, the rule will likely require heavy trucks — like tractor trailers, buses, and garbage trucks — to increase their fuel economy by up to 40 percent compared to 2010 levels by 2027. Right now, the Times reports, a tractor trailer averages just five to six miles per gallon of diesel fuel. This rule could raise that to as much as nine mpg... The regulations on heavy-duty trucks are coming about three years after the Obama administration finalized rules for cars and light trucks, standards that seek to increase the fuel economy of passenger vehicles to 54.5 mpg by 2025. Compared to some of the Obama administration’s other climate-fighting proposals, the heavy trucks standards might not seem like they’ll make much of a difference, Dave Cooke, a vehicles analyst in the Clean Vehicles Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists and author of the March 2015 report on truck fuel consumption, said, but they’re key to meeting the administration’s climate goals... 
(Photo credit: SHUTTERSTOCK - Trucks and surroundings)  --  Washington, DC, USA - Think Progress, by KATIE VALENTINE - JUNE 2, 2015


* Illinois - Springfield trucking companies prepare for expected EPA Regulations

-- The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to propose new fuel efficiency standards for trucks... The New York Times reported that announcement will come within a week, but Illinois EPA leaders said it could take a while longer. The goal is to increase fuel efficiency by 40 percent for everything larger than a pickup truck by 2027... "Diesel engines, diesel trucks, they are a player [in carbon emissions]," Illinois EPA clean air program manager Darwin Burkhart said. "I think this is just one piece of the puzzle, part of the larger puzzle to address carbon emissions in general" ... Trucking company owners said they have already felt the financial burden of previous EPA regulations, which the government started enacting in 2007... "Since 2004, it's been kind of a maintenance nightmare for most companies to deal with the EPA add-ons we've had to our engines and trucks," said Whalen truck owner Pat Whalen... The EPA said trucks average about 5-6 miles per gallan, which the organization wants to raise to 9 mph... 
(Photo: Mitigating black carbon emissions standards for new engines)  --  Springfield, ILL, USA - News Channel ABC20 - 2 June 2015

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Apr 8, 2013

* New average fuel consumption for vehicles on Chinese roads

* China - Sets 2020 fuel consumption standards to tackle pollution 

(Photo: Heavy smog covered China's capital for seven consecutive days) 
Beijing,China -Fleet Europe, by Jonathan Green -21 March 2013: -- The minimum average fuel consumption of new vehicles on Chinese roads has been set at 5 litres per 100km by 2020. With rising vehicle numbers and increasingly levels of urbanisation pollution is a growing issue in China with smogs enveloping cities for weeks at a time... This, combined with, awareness of rising fuel consumption and dependence on foreign oil has led to the Chinese government taking action to improve average fuel consumption. The target is some way behind Europe’s 2020 target of 4 litres per 100km, which is equivalent to aver age tailpipe emissions of 95g/km... The 2020 target is phased with average consumption not to exceed 6.9 liters per 100 km by 2015. In 2009 the average fuel consumption was 7.8 litres per 100 km and the legislation is expected to impact small domestic manufacturers... Last year China’s State Council announced plans to introduce subsidies for electric vehicles (EV’s) in an attempt to reach a target of 5 million EV’s by 2020. The government $4 billion dollar programme covers electric cars, plug-in hybrids, normal hybrid cars, and vehicles with energy saving engines...

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Dec 3, 2008

ANTI-POLLUTION MONEY * USA - Missouri-based truckers in KC area may apply for anti-pollution money

Kansas,MIS,USA -Land Line Magazine -December 1, 2008: -- Missouri-based truck owners in the Kansas City area can apply for a 40 percent reimbursement for APUs and other diesel emissions-reduction equipment...   The Mid-America Regional Council, a regional planning organization, is helping the Missouri Department of Natural Resources distribute reimbursement money originally granted through the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Diesel Program...   Truck owners in Clay, Platte and Jackson counties may apply by Dec. 31...

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Dec 2, 2008

REIMBURSEMENT * USA - Missouri-based truckers in KC area may apply for anti-pollution money

MIS,USA -Land Line Magazine, by Charlie Morasch -December 1, 2008: -- Missouri-based truck owners in the Kansas City area can apply for a 40 percent reimbursement for APUs and other diesel emissions-reduction equipment... The Mid-America Regional Council, a regional planning organization, is helping the Missouri Department of Natural Resources distribute reimbursement money originally granted through the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Diesel Program.
Truck owners in Clay, Platte and Jackson counties may apply by Dec. 31. A description and example for proposals is available on the MARC Web site by clicking here...

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Nov 19, 2008

ANTI-POLLUTION REGULATIONS * USA - Time trucking industry comes clean

Every year each person in the South Coast Air Basin pays $1,250, and $1,600 in the San Joaquin Valley to breathe bad air, according to researchers from Cal State Fullerton

San Bernardino,CAL,USA -The Sun, by Nidia Bautista (*) -18 Nov 2008: -- ... Staggering numbers quantifying the economic toll of air pollution were released last week reminding us that Californians pay a hefty price tag for breathing dirty air. Every year each person in the South Coast Air Basin pays $1,250, and $1,600 in the San Joaquin Valley to breathe bad air, according to researchers from Cal State Fullerton. A $28 billion combined price tag for poor air quality confirms that we not only pay for poor air with our lungs and lives, but we're pulling out our pocket books too... California has made tremendous progress toward improving air quality, but studies such as these sound the alarm bell warning us that we can no longer afford to hit the snooze button; we must wake up and take action to ensure future generations breathe cleaner air... Unfortunately, actions often stall when the polluters claim that regulations are too costly. Well, now we've got 28 billion more reasons to not procrastinate. The health and economic costs - in medical costs, lost work and premature death - of air pollution are a drain on our economy, and if left unaddressed will continue to plague us for decades... The ARB developed a proposed regulation that balances our needs to meet federal clean air commitments, protect public health and provide truckers with an adequate level of flexibility for compliance. The regulation ensures trucks operating in California are equipped with life-saving particulate filters by 2014 and have the cleanest available engines by 2023... Additionally, recognizing that a large percentage of trucks are owned by independent owner-operators, the state also provides small fleets (three or less trucks) with an extended compliance timeline... The proposed regulation is expected to yield life-saving results with a 43 percent reduction in diesel particulates and a 23 percent reduction in nitrogen oxides, a key component of smog. It would prevent about 9,400 premature deaths, and would result in 150,000 fewer asthma-related cases and 950,000 fewer lost work days over a 10-year period... (* )Nidia Bautista is the community engagement director at the Coalition for Clean Air based in Los Angeles.

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Nov 12, 2008

POLLUTION * USA - New York Gets Tough on Smoking Diesel Trucks, Buses

New York,NY,USA -Environment News Service -November 11, 2008: -- Diesel trucks spewing plumes of visible exhaust and idling too long in violation of New York air regulations are the targets of a new long-term enforcement strategy aimed at protecting public health... Under the plan, Department of Environmental Conservation personnel will carry out regular but unannounced enforcement actions in places where heavy truck traffic enters or leaves a neighborhood, as well as in areas where diesel trucks tend to congregate... At those hot spots, DEC will conduct pullover operations that target trucks emitting visible exhaust... (Photo by Dave Cook - Trucks and buses in Harlem were inspected for air violations)

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Sep 14, 2007

Smog-free Truck * Canada - Takes lead in meeting emission rules

Challenger Motor Freight unveiled its new smog-free truck yesterday, one of the first in the province to comply with new, more stringent emission standards

Cambridge,ONT,CAN -The Waterloo Record (Waterloo,Ontario,Can), by CHUCK HOWITT -Sept 13, 2007: -- ... The 2007 truck is equipped with a device called a particulate trap which filters out microscopic particulate matter known to cause smog... The engine is also designed to run on diesel fuel using 97 per cent less sulphur... Rebecka Torn, manager of communications with the Ontario Trucking Association, was on hand for the unveiling and presented Challenger chief executive Dan Einwechter and president Eugene Moser with the Plaque of Environmental Stewardship... (PETER LEE, RECORD STAFF - Eugene Moser, president of Challenger Motor Freight, shows off one of the company's new trucks equipped with a particulate trap to reduce smog emissions. The trap is contained in a steel cylinder along the side of the truck)

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