OTTAWA, Ont. –The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) has asked federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty to help offset the costs of adopting environmentally-friendly transport technologies.

The CTA suggested the feds include incentives to help encourage early adoption of technologies included in the organization’s enviroTruck concept. The Alliance says doing so will reduce pollution from trucks.

CTA president David Bradley also took the opportunity to remind Flaherty of his previous election promise to reduce the federal excise tax on diesel by 50%. That promise went out the window when the world economy collapsed.

Alternatively, the CTA said the feds could take an amount equal to the diesel tax cut and put it into tax credits for fleets looking to add green technologies to their equipment. That way, said Bradley, federal revenue would not be impacted yet the government could still contribute to helping the industry reduce its carbon footprint.