The Canadian Trucking Alliance rolled its “enviroTruck” concept into Ottawa last month to show both the bureaucrats and the mainstream media that green and trucking can be used in the same sentence. I say hooray for CTA in this instance. There’s a green tide sweeping over the country, and trucks can and should be part of it.

The association that represents motor-carrier associations in Canada is hoping to convince the federal government to work with trucking companies and truck and trailer manufacturers on initiatives to improve our environmental performance. It’s hoping, as well, to enlist government’s help in “accelerating the penetration of environmentally friendly vehicles into the Canadian truck fleet.”

The 2004, 2007, and 2010 EPA emissions reductions mandates are good for our environment. Whether you buy the Global Warming plot or not, reducing soot and NOx emissions from our diesels isn’t going to do us any harm. Nor will reducing overall greenhouse gas (GHG) output from trucks.

But ironically, and David Bradley, CEO of the CTA, pointed this out to the bureaucrats and press; as trucks evolve and emit fewer grams of PM and NOx per brake-horse-power-per-hour, they’ll produce more carbon dioxide (CO2) — the so-called greenhouse gas (GHG) — through reduced efficiency.

CO2 production is directly related to fuel consumed. When burned, one U.S. gallon of diesel fuel produces 22.2 lb (10.1 kg) of CO2. There’s no way around that. What’s happened, of course, is that PM and NOx reduction strategies have, to some degree, rendered the engines less efficient, compromising fuel mileage — if only a little bit.

Bradley says that dramatic emissions reductions and improved fuel efficiency can be achieved. The technology is there, but it’s expensive. And there are other measures, too, worthy of government’s consideration.

The way I look at it, government imposed these massive emissions reductions targets on this industry, the least they can do now is help us deal with the cost of it all. If not that, than take a serious look at how conflicting regulations coming from various ministries make it unnecessarily difficult for truckers to take advantage of all the emissions reductions and fuel saving technology that is currently available.

In addition to the enviroTruck concept just presented, CTA has suggested other measures that could help trucking move more freight per gallon of fuel burned (lowering overall GHG emissions), such as higher gross weights, LCVs, and more truck-friendly infrastructure. CTA has also been calling for adjustments to axle-weight limits to accommodate the additional weight of the various bits EPA-mandated emissions reduction gear like bigger cooling packages, diesel particulate filters, etc., and to allow truckers to install certain relatively heavy anti-idle devices such as APUs and the like.

All ideas whose time has come — in my humble opinion — but certain regulations get in the way. We’ve got weights and dimensions rules to deal with when it comes to adding a little weight to our power units, and trailer length restrictions to deal with when it comes to adding turbulence reduction measures such as boat tails and the like.

As well as raising awareness of the challenges of achieving improved fuel economy while reducing emissions, the CTA is asking Ottawa to consider a package of incentives that would apply to trucks that qualify as what CTA is calling an “enviroTruck”.

“The key is to get this equipment out into the marketplace on an accelerated basis. The federal government can assist by helping to defray some of the costs and by identifying qualifying equipment much like they have with the Energy Star program for household appliances and more recently with the rebates for purchasing fuel efficient cars,” Bradley said. To qualify as an enviroTruck, a tractor-trailer unit would comprise:

(1) A 2007 or newer tractor with a “smog-free” ’07 engine; (2) A speed limiter set to a maximum speed of no more than 105 km/h; plus (3) A number of pre-approved technologies/add-on devices for both the tractor and the trailer(s) that enhance fuel efficiency and combat idling, aerodynamic fairings to reduce drag, and low rolling resistance tires.

I like this enviroTruck concept — most of it anyway — and I really do believe it’s high time government started to look at the whole picture here.

Traditionally, government deals with issues like this one ministry at a time. CTA has at least succeeded in getting the Ministry of Transportation and Natural Resources Canada’s Office of Energy Efficiency to the same table.
That’s a start.