OTTAWA – A government program that gave financial incentives for the purchase of anti-idling technology has expired – and the Canadian Trucking Alliance wants it back.

The CTA is calling upon the feds to reinstate the department of natural resources Commercial Transportation Energy Efficiency Rebate (CTEER) program, which was ran from August 2003 to March 31, 2006.

Canadian Idle: CTA says rebate program showed results

Recently, the new Conservative government announced that it was suspending funding of all climate change programs pending the development of a new made-in-Canada approach to reducing GHGs.

CTEER — administered by NRCan’s FleetSmart in cooperation with equipment suppliers – attempted to reduce unessissary truck idling by offering rebates of up to 20 percent between $350 and $1,400 on pre-approved cab heater and air conditioning units or auxiliary power generators. The program was also supposed adance investment in biodiesel projects and explore AC power at truck stops, although it’s unclear to what extent those latter two inititiaves were pursued.

“CTEER was an excellent example of a public-private sector partnership geared towards improving the Canadian environment,” says CEO of the CTA  David Bradley, who is hoping to meet with the Minister of Natural Resources Gary Lunn to try and convince him to bring the program back.

The program got off to a slow start. In 2004, anti-idling equipment manufacturers told Today’s Trucking that a majority of buyers didn’t even bother applying for rebates. But as the program was better promoted and suppliers continued notifying current and potential customers, CTEER rebates soon picked up.

During the life of the program, the federal government invested $5.8 million in rebates, with the trucking industry investing $30 million.  The return on investment eventually proved to be substantive — over 13,000 auxiliary heating/cooling systems were introduced into the heavy truck market eliminating on average 2,200 idling hours from each of the trucks equipped with the devices. This translated into annual emission savings from the trucking industry of almost 186,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases; almost 47 million grams of particulate matter; and over 4 1/2 billion grams of nitrogen oxide, according to the CTA.

“These are significant results which we believe justifies the reinstatement of the program,” says Bradley. “CTA believes a somewhat higher percentage rebate — of say 50 percent — would encourage even wider acceptance and uptake by industry for relatively little investment on the part of the government.”