Sticking with the theme of fuel economy, nothing has been more frustrating than dealing with our governments and enforcement agencies on the above matters. We have taken up these issues many times over and are always met with the same response: “We are sorry but the law is the law. Even if we are in agreement with you and support the technology, it will be very difficult to change the law and it will take time…a lot of time.”

That is complete nonsense. It took no time to adopt regulations that aligned with the EPA – which we did before technology that complied with the regulations even existed. It takes no time to introduce new tax legislation (see how quickly Manitoba introduced their natural gas tax for on-highway vehicles? Again, the tax arrived before suitable Class 8 technology existed).

In my opinion it comes down to motive or incentive. Why wouldn’t our elected officials want us to be more efficient and make a gallon of diesel go further? They say that improved fuel economy is the next mandate, so why not work with us to utilize the tried and true technologies available to us today?

Could it be that a 10% improvement in fuel economy equals a 10% reduction in fuel tax revenue? That’s what it is starting to look like to me.