NAFA Supports New Standards For Heavy-Duty Trucks And Buses Announced By White House

President Barack Obama met with industry officials on August 9 to discuss the first of their kind fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas pollution standards for work trucks, buses, and other heavy duty vehicles, and to thank them for their leadership in finalizing a successful national program for these vehicles.  The meeting marked the Administration’s announcement of the standards, which proposes to 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 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) developed the standards in close coordination with the companies that met with the President as well as other stakeholders, following requests from companies to develop the program.  The expected cost savings for American businesses are on top of the $1.7 trillion that American families are expected to save at the pump from the 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.

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 Administration’s car 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.

NAFA Fleet Management Association has followed these rulings closely.

"Fleet managers need to be aware of these new standards and plan for their implementation in the next few years since they may change their operations to some degree," said NAFA’s Executive Director, Phillip E. Russo, CAE.  

According to NAFA’s Legislative Counsel in Washington, D.C., the final ruling closely follows the initially proposed rule and places the mandates on the manufacturer and not the purchaser.  NAFA supports the new standards.

"While we were working to improve the efficiency of cars and light-duty trucks, something interesting happened," said President Obama.  "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."

"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," said DOT Secretary Ray LaHood.   "These new standards will reduce fuel costs for businesses, encourage innovation in the manufacturing sector, and promote energy independence for America."
 
The standards are expected to yield an estimated $50 billion in net benefits over the life of model year 2014-to-2018 vehicles, and are presumed to result in significant long-term savings for vehicle owners and operators.  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 twenty percent reduction in fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by model year 2018, saving up to four gallons of fuel for every one hundred miles traveled.

The joint DOT/EPA program includes a range of targets 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. This flexible structure allows serious but achievable fuel efficiency improvement goals charted for each year and for each vehicle category and type.

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 fifteen 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 one hundred miles traveled.

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

Beyond the direct benefits to businesses that own and operate these vehicles, the program will also benefit consumers and businesses by reducing costs for transporting goods, and spur growth in the clean energy sector by fostering innovative technologies, and providing regulatory certainty for manufacturers.

More information is available on EPA’s web site at: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/climate/regulations.htm and on NHTSA’s web site at: http://www.nhtsa.gov/fuel-economy.