The government on Monday proposed the first regulations limiting fuel consumption of work trucks — from big-rig trucks to concrete mixers, buses, even heavy-duty pickups — saying the rules finally address the thirstiest and most-polluting vehicles on the road.
The proposal, which would take effect with 2014 models and ratchet up through 2018 models, requires a public comment period and other procedures, and wouldn't be final until next year.

The rules would raise the cost of trucks and the diesel engines most of them use, but the government says the payback in fuel-cost savings would be as fast as one year for heavily used over-the-road trucks.

Even so, "We are concerned that this could price some buyers out of the market," says Kyle Treadway, chairman of the American Truck Dealers and owner of a Kenworth dealership in Salt Lake City. Lower fuel consumption is good, he agrees, but the federal proposal "is expected to add thousands of dollars to the cost per truck."

"We're reviewing the proposed rules and approaching (them) with caution," says Norita Taylor of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, a trade group representing owners of one or two trucks or small fleets. Well-meaning initiatives sometimes place outsize cost burdens on small-scale truckers, she says.

A conservative group that opposes government involvement in the economy denounced the proposed rules as "energy rationing." Myron Ebell, director of the center for energy and environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said, "The only way to increase fuel efficiency as quickly (as proposed) will be to move less freight," damaging the economy.

The complex proposal would cut fuel use 10% to 20%.

"We've been flatlined at 6 to 6.5 miles per gallon for years" for a loaded tractor-trailer rig, says Glen Kedzie, vice president at the American Trucking Associations, a major industry trade group. That translates to about 16 gallons of diesel fuel per 100 miles. A 20% gain would cut fuel use to about 14 gallons per 100 miles.

Major trucking and shipping interests endorsed the move for its potential cost savings.

ATA noted that it has backed fuel-consumption regulations since 2008. "The proposal, using current technology, is achievable," spokesman Brandon Borgna says.

A consortium representing trucking, shipping and drivetrain companies says it recommended fuel-use regulations for commercial trucks as far back as 2006. Now called the Heavy-Duty Fuel Efficiency Leadership Group, it "devised a set of principles" for big-truck fuel use and proposed them to the Obama administration this year.

Though the emphasis is on semi-tractor rigs and other big trucks, the regulations would apply to vehicles as small as those with an 8,500-pound gross vehicle weight rating (the safe weight of the truck and cargo combined) — a Ford F-250 pickup or equivalent.

The heavy-truck rules would join fuel-economy rules for passenger vehicles that require automakers to average 35.5 miles per gallon in 2016. A recent proposal would push that to as much as 62 mpg in 2025.

The government forecast the truck rules would cost the industry $7.7 billion, but save $35 billion in fuel.

The standards would apply to the manufacturers of both engines and trucks, not to the companies that use them. In the heavy-duty world, buyers often choose engines separately from trucks.

Navistar, which builds both big trucks and the engines that power them at its International Truck and Engine unit, says it's too soon to determine the precise effect of the proposed rules, but hopes the government will "properly incentivize" advanced technologies. Navistar makes fuel-saving diesel-electric hybrid systems for buses and commercial trucks.

The regulations don't address the trailers that semis pull — requiring them to be more aerodynamic, for example — though they dramatically effect fuel use.

Critics say the standards might not be high enough and should "do more to draw advanced technologies into the market" by giving added credit for hybrid drivetrains or advanced transmissions, says Therese Langer, head of transportation issues at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, an advocacy group.

The rules are a joint product of the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. EPA specifies fuel-use limits in grams of carbon dioxide emitted per ton-mile. NHTSA specifies gallons of fuel used per 1,000 ton-miles. They say their approaches complement each other.

They both are intended to take into account that a truck hauling steel will burn more fuel, and thus emit more CO2, than a similar truck hauling feather-bedding.

"With just five years of new vehicles sold under this program, America will eliminate the same amount of oil that we import from Russia and Nigeria in a year," says Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., member of several energy-related House committees.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Wegmans Food Markets here said yesterday that it is just starting to receive the first of 101 fuel-efficient trucks that will make up 60% of its next-generation truck fleet. The new trucks will use a 15-liter ISX 500-horsepower diesel engine from Cummins, Jamestown, N.Y., that will reduce emissions by 90% compared with the engine used in the last generation of trucks. In addition, the 71-store chain plans to cut fuel consumption with the new fleet by 92,000 gallons annually. The new trucks’ drivelines feature 10 different gears to let the driver control the torque, or pulling power, of the truck across different driving conditions; they are also equipped with a diesel particulate filter to reduce emissions, and they run on an ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel. “We had our drivers test four tractors from four different manufacturers,” said Tim Murphy, Wegmans’ senior transportation manager, in a statement. “Based on their feedback, we developed the specs for our tractor of the future.” In addition to the initial 110 trucks, and an additional 20 coming before the end of the year, Wegmans plans to replace its remaining older trucks with the new models by 2010.

The rules would raise the cost of trucks and the diesel engines most of them use, but the government says the payback in fuel-cost savings would be as fast as one year for heavily used over-the-road trucks.

The heavy-truck rules would join fuel-economy rules for passenger vehicles that require automakers to average 35.5 miles per gallon in 2016. A recent proposal would push that to as much as 62 mpg in 2025.

I have always been bothered how the government regulates car companies passenger cars so much with increasing pollution and fuel economy standards when most are very clean and fuel efficient already yet the biggest polluters and fuel wasters like 18 wheelers and big trucks don't seem to be regulated much at all when it comes to pollutions/fuel economy. What good does forcing more clean fuel efficient cars do when all these big rigs, big trucks, buses, etc next to these clean cars are belching big plumes of black smoke all the time and get horrible fuel economy

Its been proven as well that newer more aerodynamic trucks help with gas savings compared to the ones most drive.