TORONTO — In a letter to federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, the Canadian Trucking Alliance urged the government to incorporate policies that would assist carriers in becoming early adopters of the latest green truck technologies.

According to the CTA, these green technologies included in the enviroTruck initiative, would help eliminate smog-causing air contaminants and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from trucks.

As well, CTA president David Bradley called upon Flaherty to honour his party’s election promise of reducing the federal excise tax on diesel fuel by 50 percent. This action would partially eliminate a regressive tax on business inputs that should have been done away with years ago, Bradley continued.

Alternatively, the CTA suggested an approach whereby financial tax incentives, such as tax credits or accelerated CCA rates, equal to the promised excise tax reduction be devoted to a program that would support carriers in adding new green technologies to their fleets.

Bradley recognized the government’s need to restrain federal spending, especially in light of recent stimulus spending. However, Bradley explained that this policy would not impact federal revenues, and would help the federal government meet some of its stated goals with respect to air pollution and greenhouse gases.

CTA’s enviroTruck program was designed in an effort to accelerate the acquisition of new, mandatory, smog-free trucks combined with proven technologies that will reduce fuel consumption and lead to lower greenhouse gas emissions.

EnviroTruck seeks to partner with the government to provide meaningful financial incentives that would ease the costs of acquiring new, greener equipment such as auxiliary power units to run heating and cooling systems without having the engine idle; tractor and trailer aerodynamics; less rolling resistant tires; and double trailer configurations.