Earlier this year at a grocery distribution warehouse in Maryland, President Obama announced that his administration seeks to extend fuel efficiency regulations for medium- and heavy-duty trucks for models beyond 2018. The second phase of the fuel efficiency standards will again target trucks to reduce air pollution.
The 2011 fuel standards applied only to truck models for the years 2014 through 2018, calling for a 20 percent reduction in heavy-vehicle emissions by 2018. According to an article on LATimes.com, experts estimated manufacturers would need to boost fuel efficiency for trucks to an average of 8 mpg to meet the new standards.
While developing and implementing this new technology will undoubtedly add to the sticker prices on new trucks, increased fuel efficiency may end up saving you money in the long run.
Take a look at this example to put it into dollars and cents. Your current truck, we’ll call this truck A, gets 8 mpg and costs $100,000. If you drive 100,000 miles, you use 12,500 gallons of fuel. Let’s say diesel fuel costs $4 per gallon, which means you pay $50,000 in fuel costs per year. If you run the truck for 10 years, the total cost for fuel is $500,000.
A new truck, truck B, gets 16 mpg under the fuel efficiency standards, and costs $125,000, assuming a 25 percent price increase. If you drive 100,000 miles, you use 6,250 gallons of fuel. At $4 per gallon for diesel fuel, you pay $25,000 in fuel costs per year. If you run the truck for 10 years, the total fuel cost is $250,000.
The total cost to run truck A for 10 years is $600,000, and the total cost to run truck B for the same time is $375,000. So, paying $25,000 more up front for a new truck saves $225,000 over a 10-year life of the truck.
The administration’s belief is that tightening restrictions on carbon emissions from trucks will cut back on overall pollution, reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil and save consumers money.
Heavy-duty trucks are the second-largest source of transportation greenhouse gas emissions, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Extending the program beyond model year 2018 will essentially further reduce fuel consumption with more advanced technologies.
The president requested that a first draft of the regulations for medium- and heavy-duty trucks be completed by March 2015, and ordered the EPA and U.S. Department of Transportation to finalize the rules a year later.
In a White House press release, President Obama said new tax credits would be offered “both for companies that manufacture heavy-duty alternative-fuel vehicles and those that build fuel infrastructure so that trucks running on biodiesel or natural gas or hybrid electric technology, will have more places to fill up.”
Updated medium- and heavy-duty trucks with advanced — greener — technology could translate to higher sticker prices for consumers, but price has, and always will, factor into your truck-buying decisions. Or when you buy anything for that matter. Now you might just have to consider the costs of upgrading to cleaner vehicles, but remember, you will also be helping to decrease greenhouse gas emissions.
Required increases in fuel efficiencies benefit everyone, especially those business owners who want to increase profitability. And who doesn’t want to make more money? Based on the above example, your fuel-efficient fleet will make you more profitable, and at the same time perhaps attract potential customers looking for an environmentally friendly contractor.
