Pros and Cons 1

Pros and cons

Objection: Truck buyers want fuel economy improvement, and truck makers consider fuel efficiency to be a critical competitive measure. The federal government should leave this alone.

Response: Yes, but the Obama administration is determined to make its mark fighting climate change by reducing carbon emissions. Again, it’s better to be at the table; trucking does have a voice there.

And, despite my laissez faire assumption that the market would weed out inefficient operators, one source suggested that there are still plenty of folks in the trucking industry who need to be nudged away from long hoods and square noses. Ultimately, Billy Bigrig will have to buy the more fuel-efficient truck that the program “pushes” into the marketplace. The bureaucratic buzz-phrase is “broad-based adoption.”

Next objection: America and trucking have been built on small business. The Obama administration is imposing more and more regulation and tying up the Little Man in red tape – not that Big Trucking is a fan of federal bureaucratic paperwork either. (Click here for the rebuttal >>)