Fuel Economy Will Decline With 2007 Engines, EPA Says

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Diesel truck engines built after 2007 will be even less efficient to operate than the controversial models now being introduced to meet new federal pollution standards, the Environmental Protection Agency and American Trucking Associations have both said.

That next generation of cleaner-running diesels threatens to deliver another blow to the trucking industry, which already faces potential fuel-economy and maintenance problems with low-emission engines companies will have to buy after Oct. 1. Fleet owners have said the engines they will have to buy after October will use 2% to 5% more fuel than existing engines.

“The refining process that will be used to make the ultra-low- sulfur fuel [for the 2007 engines] will make the fuel less dense, and that means that trucking companies will need more fuel to get to the same place they do now," said S. William Gouse III, ATA's vice president of engineering. "And that is going to affect mileage."

For the full story, see the July 8 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.

Click here to write a Letter to the Editor.