Editorial: Improving ’07 Fuel Efficiency
here was some good news for trucking last week in Atlanta, where American Truck Dealers met. Manufacturers of the nation’s major heavy-duty engines said the lower-emission models the U.S. government has mandated for 2007 apparently will not come with another fuel-efficiency penalty.
While trucks equipped with the new engines will definitely cost more — as much as $10,000 for most models, it appears — the engine makers said they have managed not only to avoid potential performance setbacks with the new emissions equipment, but also to compensate for the poorer performance of the new fuel the government has said the new engines must use.
Truck and engine makers are now predicting that ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel will have about 1% less power in it than current blends. And most of the makers told the truck dealers’ annual meeting that the fuel economy of their ’07 models will at least match the results of the tractors they will replace.
This is especially good news to hear these days, as fuel prices continue to skyrocket for few obvious reasons other than vague references to strong demand.
Diesel jumped 11.1 cents a gallon last week in the Energy Department’s latest survey of filling stations — the second consecutive 11.1-cent increase — and the national average retail price is now $2.876.
Also in Atlanta, the truck and engine makers promised the truck dealers that the new engines will be as reliable as the existing models, meaning that the ’07 trucks won’t have the break-in difficulties the industry faced with the hurried-up post-2002 tractors.
The big difference, the officials said, is that this time around they have had adequate time to develop and test the new engines. The last time we went through this exercise, as we all remember, the federal government forced the manufacturers to bring out their lower-emission engines 18 months ahead of schedule.
This time, the manufacturers say they have had sufficient time to be sure the new engines are ready for market.
For example, Freightliner reported that it has already put 3 million miles on its ’07 Detroit Diesel and Mercedes-Benz test engines.
This latest news from the manufacturers may make fleet executives a little less nervous about the coming ’07 models, and that would be good for the entire industry.
This editorial appears in the May 1 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.
