Putting America's "Energy Hogs" on a Diet: More on Today's GHG Proposal for Trucks

My colleague, Luke Tonachel, had it right in this New York Times piece that was just posted.   He called today’s big, 18-wheel trucks the “energy hogs of the roadway.”   

But, as Luke noted, that’s soon to change:  today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation released their first-ever joint proposal to increase fuel efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas pollution from our nation’s trucks.

In his most recent Switchboard post on this topic, he called the new proposal “a historic step for moving America down the road to cleaner, more efficient freight, which will save truck owners and consumers money.”

I’ve been working on diesel issues for almost twenty years now, so I recognize a historic step when I see one.  And this is a very historic step. 

It’s going to provide a critical helping hand to truckers, many of whom have taken a financial beating over the past two years:  if implemented as-is, this program will cut fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from 10 – 20 percent, depending on the size and weight of the truck. 

Given that long-haul truckers routinely log more than 100,000 miles per year, their fuel savings will add up quickly—and easily offset any implementation costs of new, more fuel-efficient technologies.  (Luke says that the incremental cost of technologies that cut fuel consumption by 35 percent would be recouped in just 2 years.)

Indeed, according to EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, implementing this proposal will save more than $41 billion in fuel costs—money that will stay in the pockets of the nation’s truckers.

Put simply, this is a historic first step towards putting the energy hogs of America’s roadways on a much-needed diet.