OTTAWA, Ont. – The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) is satisfied that Canada’s proposed greenhouse gas regulations for heavy trucks adequately reflect the unique operating conditions in this country.

While the Phase 2 regulations closely mirror those in the US, the CTA says Canadian legislators built in some key differences. CTA has been lobbying the feds to incorporate changes into the legislation to reflect Canada’s unique and more efficient configurations.

“The Environmental Regulation recognizes this fact by creating a new CO2 vehicle emission standard called heavy line-haul tractors,” said CTA vice-president of operations, Geoff Wood. “The existence of this category recognizes load maximization and other efficiencies as it assists the Canadian trucking industry in hitting its GHG emission targets through new technologies.”

The CTA wants Environment and Climate Change Canada to also expand coverage of this category to units operating with GVWs between 80,000 and 120,000 lbs. Most of the regulation, CTA reports, is in alignment with the US EPA Phase 2 regulations released last year. The Canadian regs, as with those in the US, will also cover trailers.

CTA remains concerned about the legislation’s call for certain tire technologies, which may not be suitable in Canadian winters.

“Regulating tire selection is a tricky business,” said Wood. “We are happy the new recall bill S2 will assist with some of these issues; but our concerns remain that tires need to be spec’d for both safety and the environment. No one policy objective should trump the other.”