Top truck manufacturers at ACT Expo this week in Long Beach were in agreement that the trucking industry will keep on trucking down the path of greater fuel and fleet efficiency despite any road blocks that the Trump administration may have in store for Phase II of the U.S. EPA’s Greenhouse Gas (GHG) standards for medium and heavy-duty trucks.
During this week’s panel discussion titled “The Future of Heavy-Duty Trucking,” leading executives from Daimler Trucks North America, Navistar, Kenworth, Mack and Peterbilt upheld the market value of fuel efficiency while dismissing a possible rollback on stringent federal emissions as inconsequential.
“I think it doesn’t really matter,” said Steve Gilligan, vice president of product and vocational marketing at Navistar. “I think that we’ve been fortunate that the effects of GHG legislation has been the impetus for improved fuel economy.
“So, we’re of the opinion that those breakthroughs and developments in technology have been fairly well received. And therefore even if there was a change in legislation, it gives an OE who has better fuel economy a competitive advantage in the marketplace.”
Brian Lindgren, research and development director at Kenworth, agreed.
“The product plan that we had in place easily got to those requirements for GHG 1. Similar with GHG 2, our customers are demanding more fuel efficient vehicles. So the things that were planning to do will get us in compliance with GHG 2,” Lindgren said. “The idea is to provide an overall more efficient vehicle so that it provides a better return for our customers.”
Abandoning GHG Phase II technology isn’t much of an option, according to Kary Schaefer, general manager of marketing and strategy at Daimler Trucks North America.
