Environmental Protection Agency aims to cut truck carbon emissions

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wants trucks to cut emissions further.

Despite making up only 5% of US road traffic, medium and heavy-duty vehicles account for about 20% of the nation's CO² emissions.

Now the Agency, together with the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA is proposing further Greenhouse Gas emissions and fuel efficiency standards (Phase 2) following-on from a successful first phase.

The proposed standards, which will begin in the model year 2021 (model year 2018 for trailers) culminate in standards for model year 2027.  The EPA hopes to see a dramatic 24% cut in CO² emissions by 2027.

Other benefits from the proposal are likely to be fuel savings for truck owners which will consequently bring down transportation costs to the benefit of business and consumers alike, providing hauliers pass on the savings.