Studies back carriers’ clean air manifesto: CTA

TORONTO — The Canadian Trucking Alliance says two recent studies support the group’s 14-point action plan to help truckers be effective in business while reducing emissions and fighting climate change.

The two American studies, says CTA, back the Alliance’s recommendations to remove regulatory barriers to truck aerodynamic improvements and for governments to introduce and enforce biodiesel fuel standards. Both policies are contained in CTA’s action plan for a Made in Canada Clean Air Act submitted to government earlier this year.

The first study, a two-year collaborative effort of the Truck Manufacturers Association and the US Department of Energy, concludes that if the entire U.S. fleet of Class 8 trucks were equipped with aerodynamic improvements such as gap enclosure, side skirts, boat tails and new side mirror designs, fuel efficiency would improve by 10 percent, translating into yearly diesel fuel savings of one billion gallons.

Two recent US studies are testament that CTA’s Clean
Air proposals are on the right track, the group says

The study determined that for every two percent reduction in aerodynamic drag, there is a one percent improvement in fuel efficiency, CTA reports.

Earlier this month, another study conducted for the US National Biodiesel Board (NBB) found that one-third of the biodiesel sampled in the U.S. between November 2005 and November 2006 was out of spec because of incomplete processing.

A biodiesel “winter weather advisory” has been issued by the NBB. Fleet managers, petroleum distributors and other consumers should consider the warning after fuel quality testing results revealed some issues with the quality of biodiesel in some parts of the U.S., the group says.

The CTA and Ontario Trucking Association have in the past been skeptical of proposed biodiesel legislation in Canada.

Ontario has been considering some sort of biodiesel mandate for nearly two years and more recently, the federal government has indicated it will explore a similar rule by 2012.

Meanwhile, the CTA has been successful in convincing regulators to conduct comprehensive testing on the effects of biodiesel on post-2002, low emission engines — including new 2007 diesels– before announcing a biodiesel mandate.

Tests are slated to begin this winter in Alberta. Despite CTA’s recommendation, the study will not include the impact on upcoming 2010 engines, however.

CTA wants to know if the use of biodiesel achieves more environmental benefits than current and future engines could, since new engines are designed to virtually eliminate NOx and particulate matter.

CTA chief David Bradley says the two U.S. studies provide further rationale for adoption of measures to promote aerodynamic enhancement of trucks and the need for strict manufacturing standards for biodiesel.

“Our Clean Air Act plan identifies the fuel efficiency benefits that would be associated with removing outdated regulatory obstacles to the introduction of non-payload aerodynamic devices,” he says. “We are also urging governments in Canada to ensure that our operational concerns arising from a biodiesel mandate are addressed including the introduction of regulated standards and enforcement protocols.”