News Analysis: Truck Fleets May Control Debate Over New Engines

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he Diesel Engine Emissions Summit held in Phoenix June 10 may end up being remembered as the point in time when the nation’s truck fleets moved to take control of the new-engine debate.

To be in the crowded ballroom at the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort was really to see two separate meetings.

In the morning, a top official from the Environmental Protection Agency, executives from three of the largest U.S. truck makers and all of the U.S.-based heavy-duty diesel engine manufacturers set a cheery, positive tone.

They told the crowd that new trucks, bearing new engines and burning ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel, would be ready well in time to meet the EPA’s new emissions requirements for trucks produced for model year 2007 and still more stringent requirements for 2010.

Things got more complicated and problematical when the fuel distribution and lubrication panelists detailed the issues they were confronting in trying to comply with the coming standards in their products. Lubricant makers, for example, talked of having to design custom oils for each brand of new engine, in the absence of an industry standard for the entire class, and the cost and time associated with doing so.

For the full story, see the June 23 edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.