Posted on 08/11/2011 4:00:18 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
By 2018, America’s 18-wheelers will be rolling on getting 20 percent more miles per gallon due to new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules addressing new fuel standards for heavy vehicles.
But as nice as it will be for big-rigs to save four gallons of fuel for every 100 miles traveled, fuel efficiency comes at a cost. The Wall Street Journal estimates the costs to be $1,050 for work trucks, $380 for vocational trucks and $6,220 for supercab tractors.
President Obama and the EPA promise the upfront costs will more than pay for themselves after a year or two, but some worry the upfront costs may be too much for the trucking industry and cause irreparable harm.
“Americans don’t need the added burden of new regulations during a time when the country is trying to rebuild itself,” says Bill Wilson, president of Americans for Limited Government (ALG). “These new rules and regulations could potentially put small companies out of business.”
In a statement from Institute for Energy Research (IER), President Thomas Pyle echoed Wilson, “As with the recently announced fuel economy standards for passenger vehicles, these new rules will benefit a small group at the expense of American consumers. Far from protecting the American public, President Obama is using the power of the federal government to protect large corporations from competition and to suppress entrepreneurs and small businesses.”
Is this added cost for consumers and those in the trucking industry worth the benefits? If these rules and regulations are so helpful to the industry, wouldn’t such advancements come into the marketplace on their own?
(Excerpt) Read more at netrightdaily.com ...
EnvironMENTAL Nanny State PING!
Exactly . . . when did governmental eggheads ever come up with a profitable idea . . . ever.
I thought Squeaker of the House Boner was going to reign in on these asshats . . . and the NPR . . . and the Planned Predator tax money . . . (crickets}
Recession, Depression...whatever. You just can’t spend too much money to save the planet.
Nuke the EPA. Tell all the parasites they are fired and they just got their last Federale (welfare) check. Then bulldoze every EPA building.
The trucking industry has been chasing better fuel economy for decades. A fraction of 1 mpg is a massive improvement for a Class 8 truck and a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
They will get the mileage increase by lowering the weight. that will mean more trucker jobs to haul the same amount of freight,,,,,,more union jobs,,,,,,
We used to have good fuel mileage until the engines
had to meet ever increasing emissions standards.
The 20% increase their wanting, we lost, starting in 2004.
I stay pretty busy tuning engines, especially at $4.00 gal. for diesel.
The real reason for this kind of regulatory nonsense is that it forces premature obsolescence into the economy, thereby stimulating manufacturing activity that otherwise would have been unnecessary. This, after all, is why major truck manufacturers are such big supporters of the new fuel efficiency standards.
I mean, did anyone really think GE was using the Obama administration to push those silly new light bulbs on Americans because the company truly cares about the environment?
Does Obastard think that drivers and owners haven’t been asking for engines that get better mileage? Does he not understand the physics of moving an 80,000 truck down the road? Why not just declare that the mileage of large trucks to be 20 mpg? Why not just make it 500 mpg?
Plus the huge added expense of maintaining these engines is staggering!
Most of my Cummins ISX and Detroit Series 60 work is EGR related.
Lots of problems with the '07 emmission engine's. Our fleet is now getting 13 new '12 KW's with ISX.
Probably true if you assume $10/gallon for fuel.
And that’s a “reality” the watermelons can’t acknowledge ! The math is pretty simple and there are no “magical solutions” to moving a load of freight down the highway. Every OEM serving the industry has been spending mega-bucks for incremental efficiency gains already ! Obviously these government idiots think they can bamboozle the public with yet another fuel efficiency scam - and make the consumers stand in line to pay the piper for their ignorance ! Its worked before !
One “snake in the woodpile” may be the plethora of TV channels. Right now a program featuring Kwhoppers is on Speed Channel. They’re going to great lengths to itemize just how much they’re doing to improve fuel efficiency and how difficult that process is. >PS
Yes Sir, I agree. Were a Detroit Diesel dealer out here in California
and the majority of work is EGR valve, Turbo and Sensors.
It’s really a shame, the mid to late 90’s, Early 2000 engines were
good on fuel mileage and power.
The old “chicken/egg” question. Do the penalities of increased fuel consumption and maintenance costs offset the better efficiency of “dirtier” engines ? IOW is a little bit of something noxious more injurious than a lot more of something marginally less so ? >PS
very few union trucking jobs these days
most union (Teamster) outfits bit the dust when trucking was deregulated (shockingly - - under Peanut boy).
Lowering the compression to reduce Nox and pumping in the EGR are obviously negatives for efficiency. The level of complexity in the 2010 and up engines is very high, and I expect a lot of warranty and out of warranty costs.
Still recall my first few weeks driving a “stoichemetric” Mack ! The thing was a complete dog out of the hole ! If you needed “power right now” you had to keep the rpm up in idle. The dog burnt as much - if not more - diesel than earlier models doing the same work ! >PS
As you might expect, most of this is centered around California and some of the large metroplex cities back east.
We’re all paying a very high price for their cleaner air.
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