By Carol E. Lee, Laura Stevens and Alicia Mundy
President Barack Obama on Tuesday ordered his administration to
develop and implement new fuel-efficiency standards for medium and
heavy-duty commercial trucks by March 2016.
Environmental groups and an alliance of large fleet operators
including FedEx Corp. and Con-way Inc. came out in favor of the
order while representatives of smaller trucking firms expressed
worries that coming regulations would raise prices on future truck
purchases.
The call for tougher fuel-economy standards is part of the
president's climate change strategy, a focus of his second term,
and delivers on proposals he had previously suggested as early as
last June in a speech on his environmental plans.
Environmental groups said they welcomed the move. "Strong heavy
truck efficiency standards will not only cut carbon pollution that
fuels climate change," but also save money for consumers and
truckers, said Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources
Defense Council, which lobbies for environmental protection.
Brian Mormino, executive director for environmental strategy and
compliance at engine maker Cummins Inc., said the company believes
it would be able to meet stricter fuel efficiency standards.
Cummins, truck maker Paccar Inc. and the Department of Energy have
been working on fuel reduction technologies since 2009.
"We are not going to have to implement radical changes to the
engine systems," Mr. Mormino said. "It's still going to be based on
the core engine architecture put forth in 2010."
However, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, a
trade group of small business trucking companies and professional
drivers, cautioned the changes could make new vehicles too
expensive for its members.
About 97% of the 1.3 million trucking companies in the U.S. have
fewer than 20 trucks. Those are already struggling to manage new
federal rules that limit truck driving hours to reduce chronic
fatigue and related crashes, it contends.
"Shock and awe may be the best way to describe what's happening
to the vast majority in trucking with these proposed regulations,"
Todd Spencer, OOIDA executive vice president, said in a statement.
"Large trucks are vital tools, essential to our economy and our way
of life, and most truck operators are small-business people just
getting by."
In a statement, the American Trucking Associations, the
Washington lobby for the trucking industry, urged Mr. Obama to
proceed "judiciously" with any new regulations.
"Fuel is one of our industry's largest expenses, so it makes
sense that as an industry we would support proposals to use less of
it," said ATA President Bill Graves. He said he hoped the
administration's new rules would be economically viable.
As he has previously, Mr. Obama cast the move as one that will
reduce America's dependence on foreign oil and will help grow the
economy.
"Today America is closer to energy independence than we've been
in decades," he said during an event at a Safeway grocery store
distribution center in Upper Marlboro, Md., a Washington
suburb.
He said that while heavy-duty trucks account for 4% of the
vehicles on U.S. highways, they account for about 20% of on-road
fuel consumption.
The announcement of standards for vehicle fuel efficiency is the
latest of several actions by Mr. Obama in which he has turned to
his executive and regulatory authority, because his administration
has been struggling to pass initiatives through Congress.
The Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of
Transportation would work jointly to produce the proposed
regulations, the administration said.
Robert Tita contributed to this article.
Write to Carol E. Lee at carol.lee@wsj.com and Laura Stevens at
laura.stevens@wsj.com
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