History is in the making today as the Obama administration has
announced, for the first time ever, new regulations for medium- and
heavy-duty trucks regarding both fuel economy requirements and
emissions standards.
The new standards are the result of a mandate first set in motion in
2007 by Congress, and later by an Executive Order issued by
President Obama in May of last year. The regulations will apply to
medium- and heavy-duty trucks built in 2014 through 2018, aimed at
reducing annual national fuel consumption by 530 million barrels.
The new regulations will be aimed at one of three specific subsets
of trucks: combination tractors (commonly referred to as
semi-trucks), heavy-duty pickup trucks and vans and vocational
vehicles.
Each category will have its own regulations, but the end goal is to
reduce fuel consumption by as much as 20 percent by 2018, which is
the case for semi-trucks.
The category that will affect more than just freight companies and
large business owners, heavy-duty trucks and vans, will require
about a 15 percent improvement in required fuel economy, although
standards will be unique based on fuel type.
Vocational trucks, or delivery trucks, garbage trucks and buses,
will be mandated to reduce fuel consumption by about 10 percent by
2018.
More specifics of the program are likely to follow in the coming
days.
