Truck fuel economy rule open for comment
WASHINGTON – The Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have officially published their joint proposal on regulating fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions for medium and heavy trucks.
The docket is now open for comment by interested parties and stakeholders until Jan. 31.
The rules, announced in late October, will standardize fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas output in model 2014 to 2018 trucks.
The rules will vary between types of trucks and the sectors they work in (measured by gallons per ton-mile and grams of carbon dioxide per ton-mile) and is expected to find fuel and emissions savings by 7 and 20 percent.
For the most part, the early stages of the mandate (which, at this point, doesn’t include trailers) can be met with currently available aerodynamic devices and fuel efficiency practices, but OEMs will have to spend the next few years figuring out how to further reduce fuel consumption from the power source in the later stages of the mandate.
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