Massive Lay-Offs at Peterbilt Motor Company - say thank you to the EPA ($10,000 more and less MPG)

wkrn ^

[RobbyS]

I get yu point. What I wonder is how they hope to "tame" the polution problem in a place like Dallas-Fort Worth when I-35E runs right through the center of Dallas and I-35W through the center of Fort Worth and because the area between the cities is filled with suburbs and an airport there is no way to run a corrider for the 18-wheelers who are coming through on the way north. San Antonio and Austin are also in the way of all the trucks from Mexico. EPA is going to cure all this with its fussiness? Maybe the fuel cell is the answer, but that seems to be at least ten years away. Meanwhile?

[mamelukesabre]

I personally always liked the look of the international set back axel cab over. I know I'm in the minority here though.

[El Gato]

If I'm not mistaken these regs were passed under GW's watch and a Republican Congress, with GW's appointees heading up the EPA

I guess you missed this part:

"This is as a result of a consent decree signed by the DOJ, EPA, and the heavy duty diesel engine manufacturers back in '98."

GW and friends weren't in office in '98. That would be the Sinkmeister, SpottedAl and cronies.

[El Gato]

I've got to agree reluctantly with you there. Reap what you sow, baby. But if I'm not mistaken, GW runs the EPA now, and in a time of economic crisis, seems that he could relax a reg here or there, like the suckerfish, or the increased steel tariffs to save some jobs, eh?

Not when the regs are a result of a consent decree in the "legal system".

[El Gato]

Did they leave the engineers out of the loop, or does DOJ simply not hire engineers?

I'm sure they do, but like most goverment agencies, and especially those like DoT and DoJ, as opposed to NASA and the DoD, they probably tend to get the pick of the bottom of the class rankings. Not 100% true, I've known a few good ones in government service, but for the most part, it's all too true, as even some ex GS types will admit, once they are exposed to the other end of the class standings in private industry.

[Redbob]

I gotta admit cabovers look neat, in a retro sorta way, but they've got a terrible ride, they're noisy, and the driver's the first person on the scene at any accident!
Ever since they relaxed the maximum length requirements, the cabover market has been dead.
Pete builds about one a day, versus nearly 100 conventionals per day.

BTW, that article fails to mention a key point: the Madison (Nashville) Tennessee plant is Peterbilt's small, low-volume plant, with Denton, Texas building nearly three times as many trucks.

[Redbob]

"What I wonder is how they hope to "tame" the polution problem in a place like Dallas-Fort Worth..."

Only by the wildest stretch of a bureaucrat's self-justifying imagination does Ft. Worth/Dallas (putting things in their proper order here!) have a pollution problem! LA has a problem - the La Brea Tar Pits - Denver has a problem, Phoenix maybe has a problem; FWD doesn't have a problem unless you believe what your government spoon-feeds you!

And piling regs on trucks doesn't do anything useful except increase our cost of living, a hidden tax on everything we buy that we don't get to deduct.

[Jack of all Trades]

Wow, that was a long day. I don't like to post from work.

Diplomatic? Whenever I reply to a FR thread I try to be as neutral as possible. You never know who's going to respond. I know the vehicle manufacturers, and their customers got screwed. Ultimately, I believe it was by the government's ineptitude, and their insane desire to look like they're "doing something". Of course the engine MF'rs didn't help by squeezing the regs hard. I thought they had exploited the rules, not specifically violated them. They did what they could to give you what they thought you wanted, specific output - "Because miles mean money". Unfortunately the guys who wrote the rules didn't like looking like fools, so they turned the screws.

I'm not defending the engine manufacturers, just outlining my understanding. I'd be interested to hear your take on the matter.

[DB]

Using FLASH ROM would be a selling point... ;-)

[Jack of all Trades]

I write fuel pump control software for prototype Tier II and Tier III diesel engine development. Thanks for the web link BTW. Reprogramming the PCM would be easier than you suggest. Most or all new ones don't store the software on a removable PROM for the very reason you presented (hotrodding). Now they use a service tool to flash a program into nonvolatile RAM.

Sure the EPA could have ordered a recall for reprogrammimg, but they didn't. They moved up the implementation date for new regs by 18 months as a punative measure. They have no clue about the engineering development cycle. This whole thing is a crock anyway, because I'll bet the passenger car companies have been stretching the rules for years.

[RobbyS]

We sure as heck to have a traffic problem, and much of it has to do with the number of 18-wheelers that pour through the city on roads that were designs for cars and much smaller trucks.

[Jack of all Trades]

The DOJ was just the prosecutor. The responsibility was on the EPA guys, and judging by the ones I've met, the answer is "no".

[Lancey Howard]

How many of these 500+ people who are losing their jobs vote Democrat, thereby empowering the very EPA which has helped to kill their jobs? And how many of these voters are so pitifully stupid that they will continue to vote Democrat?

If the Republicans were smart, they would mass-mail laid-off workers every time the EPA or some other government agency caused their employers to "cut back" as an end result of regulation. The blame must be nailed down exactly where it belongs so that even the most ignorant Democrat gets a clue.

[SEGUET]

""This is as a result of a consent decree signed by the DOJ, EPA, and the heavy duty diesel engine manufacturers back in '98."

GW and friends weren't in office in '98. That would be the Sinkmeister, SpottedAl and cronies."

It went into effect under their watch - it doesn't matter if it was passed in 1918 - they didn't have to let it go through - as they have done with some 40 other Clintonist dictums -

GW's watch -= he eats the big one on diesel

[Dust in the Wind]

For a little info on some who do have an organization, you could click here. . .

[B4Ranch]

ping

[rockfish59]

Looks like time for a change!

[rockfish59]

Are union workers that blind?

I don't know how ironworkers get around on the job!

[rockfish59]

afz400

Is that the license plate of your BMW?
I'll bet you're one of those types who likes to challenge the big trucks.
No trucks, no goods. Even if they did bring back the trains, it all has to hauled by the truckers.
And NO, I don't drive a truck. I couldn't deal with all the @$$hole drivers on the road.

[Cagey]

Thanks, 2T's!

It's not only Peterbilt, but all the other OEM's of Class 7 and 8 trucks that are feeling this. There is talk right now that many of the largest truck fleets in the nation are going to cancel all orders for new trucks after October. These are fleets that buy hundreds of trucks each month.

Why these regulations are not being delayed right now is beyond me. Maybe the fact that Christie is in the picture explains it.