EPA

The first year of deregulation under the Trump administration is reshaping the trucking industry, as federal agencies roll back emissions rules, language requirements, and speed limiter mandates. While supporters hail the moves as “pro-trucker,” critics warn that looser oversight could slow the industry’s shift toward cleaner, safer, and more autonomous operations.

Earlier this week, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin said that the EPA has proposed to rescind the 2009 Endangerment Finding that has been used to justify over $1 trillion in regulations, including the Biden-Harris Administration’s electric vehicle mandate.

The EPA said it is reevaluating parts of the “Clean Trucks Plan” it views are problematic, with sharp focus on the 2022 Heavy-Duty Nitrous Oxide (NOx) rule, which it noted “results in significant costs that will make the products our trucks deliver, like food and other household items, more expensive.”

Our top trucking correspondent takes his annual look at what federal regulators are now seeking from trucking as well as the potential impact those changes will have on rates and costs.

EPA officials said the objective of the Clean Ports Program is “to fund 55 zero-emission port equipment, infrastructure, and planning projects across the nation to tackle climate change, reduce air pollution, promote good jobs, and advance environmental justice.” Funding for these grants comes from the White House’s Inflation Reduction Act.

The trucking industry says new, tougher-than-expected emission standards for heavy-duty trucks recently announced by the Biden Administration have unachievable targets and will carry real consequences for the U.S. supply chain and movement of freight throughout the economy.

With the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) earlier today rolling out new proposed federal vehicle emissions standards, with a two-fold objective of spurring on the country’s transition to a clean vehicles future and combatting the climate crisis, there is a lot to monitor on that front, especially as it relates to the trucking market, and, by extension, over-the-road supply chain and logistics operations.

The Biden administration is allowing California to set rules phasing out diesel trucks. This has caused an uproar from regional and national trucking groups as well as the Owner-Operator Independent Driver Association (OOIDA) on the expected impact of the rules.

The American Trucking Associations (ATA) expressed what it called its “grave concerns” about media reports that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may be on the verge of granting the state of California waivers to implement potentially harmful and unrealistic emissions rules on the industry. Under California rules, new Class 8 heavy truck models would be zero-emission next year. Diesel and gasoline-powered drayage trucks must retire after 18 years to guarantee that they meet a zero-emission requirement by 2035.

The Biden administration is moving to lessen emissions from heavy trucks and buses in the first federal effort to eliminate smog and pollution from those vehicles since 2001. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is drawing up rules that would remove smog-forming nitrate oxide (NOx) emissions by up to 90% by 2031. The new rule would cover buses, light-duty delivery vans, tractor-trailers and other heavy trucks.

With tightening emissions regulations on their way, fleets have an affordable and proven alternative for zero emissions today.

BMW’s collaboration with South Carolina Ports and Norfolk Southern creates a unique intermodal solution that eliminates truck moves, improves its sustainability efforts and subsequently spurs manufacturing efficiently in a growing region.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced their jointly finalized standards for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles that will augment fuel efficiency and reduce carbon pollution.