Cargo Business Techwire

Friday, June 26, 2015

EPA proposes new fuel economy standards for trucks

Last week, the EPA and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration a proposed new fuel economy standards for medium- and heavy-duty trucks, in a move to help significantly improve fuel economy over the next ten years.

The current standards for these vehicles were introduced in 2011, and take effect this year, requiring a 20 percent reduction in fuel consumption. The newly introduced "phase two" rules apply to semi-trucks, large pickup trucks, vans, and buses built between 2021 and 2027. They’ll

have to cut another 24 percent, based on the 2018 numbers.

That gives truck manufacturers six years to make major fuel economy improvements.

"They are easily achievable," says Noël Perry, an economist who specializes in transportation and logistics. And we already know how to get there.

For more of the Wired story: www.wired.com