Fleets Concerned About ’07 Engine Delays, Costs

ith new emission standards for trucks to take effect just over a year from now, trucking companies remained skeptical that the introduction of 2007-model engines would be the smooth-sailing event that engine manufacturers had promised.

Test trucks that manufacturers assured fleets they would deliver by mid-2005 had not arrived, and most OEMs said they could not make the 2007 equipment available to fleets for evaluation until late December or early in 2006.

Also, key fleet executives, speaking at American Trucking Associations’ annual meeting in October, reiterated that they were worried about unproven technology in the new engines that also would bring sharply added costs and reduced fuel efficiency.