Trucking industry balks at new Biden administration rule on electric trucks: ‘Entirely unachievable’

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.

“ATA opposes this rule in its current form because the post-2030 targets remain entirely unachievable given the current state of zero-emission technology, the lack of charging infrastructure and restrictions on the power grid,” American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear said in a statement.

The new rules are slightly stricter than those proposed last year. For example, motor carriers will have more time (2030, instead of 2027) to build out a zero-emissions infrastructure. But the flip-side is stronger emissions limits in 2031 and 2032.

By 2032, the proposed rule seeks to get 50% of vocational vehicles like buses and waste haulers to zero emissions; 35% of new short-haul regional tractors; and 25% of new long-haul trucks.

That means more than 40% of all heavy-duty trucks need to be zero emissions in six upcoming model years. Under the 1,155-page final rule, roughly 30% of heavy-heavy-duty vocational trucks would need to be zero-emission by 2032 and 40% of regional day cabs.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan called the Phase 3 rule “the strongest national greenhouse gas standard for heavy-duty vehicles in history.” Regan claimed it will save fleets costs on fuel expenses. EPA estimates new trucks could save motor carriers upwards of $3.5 billion in fuel and other costs over the six model-year periods.

The EPA Phase 3 rule does not specify any particular emissions solution. The EPA remains in favor of a “technology-neutral” approach. However, trucking officials said, it will be difficult to hit emissions benchmarks without some integration of either hybrid, battery-electric, or hydrogen-electric trucks.

“Given the wide range of operations required of our industry to keep the economy running, a successful emission regulation must be technology neutral and cannot be one-size-fits-all,” ATA’s Spear said.

Spear says ATA opposes the rule in its current form because the post-2030 targets remain “entirely unachievable given the current state of zero-emission technology, the lack of charging infrastructure and restrictions on the power grid.

“Any regulation that fails to account for the operational realities of trucking will set the industry and America’s supply chain up for failure,” Spear added.

Truckload Carriers Association President Jim Ward said trucking has effectively reduced nitrous oxide (NOx) and particulate matters through the evolution and implementation of new technologies and remains committed to being a good steward of the environment.

“The journey ahead provides for many alternatives to be considered to lower carbon such as blended biodiesel, renewable natural gas, diesel-electric … to help us bridge the gap to the future,” Ward said. “We cannot just sit idly by and watch the implementation of a policy that will have a significant impact on our members’ business.”

Compared to Phase 2, the Phase 3 standards begin in model year 2027 with a 13% increase in the stringency of the medium heavy-duty vocational vehicle standards and a 17% increase in the light heavy-duty vocational vehicle standards.

The Phase 3 day cab tractor standards begin in model year 2028 with an 8% increase in stringency over the Phase 2 standards. The heavy heavy-duty vocational standards begin in model year 2029 with a 13% increase over Phase 2, and the sleeper cab tractor standards begin in model year 2030 with a 6% increase over Phase 2.

Each vehicle category then increases in stringency each year, through the 2032 model year. Compared to the Phase 2 program, the light heavy-duty vocational standards are a 60% increase in stringency of the CO2 standard, the medium heavy-duty vocational vehicle standards are a 40% increase, the day cab standards are a 40% increase, the heavy heavy-duty vocational standards are a 30% increase and the sleeper cab standards are a 25% increase in stringency of the standards. 

“The trucking industry is fully committed to the road to zero emissions, but the path to get there must be paved with commonsense,” Spear said. “While we are disappointed with today’s rule, we will continue to work with EPA to address its shortcomings and advance emission-reduction targets and timelines that are both realistic and durable.”

A recent study commissioned by the Clean Freight Coalition highlighted the significant infrastructure investment—estimated to be $1 trillion—needed to electrify the nation’s medium- and heavy-duty vehicle fleet. A recent report from the American Transportation Research Institute identified the many challenges facing commercial-vehicle electrification in the areas of U.S. electricity supply and demand, electric vehicle production and truck charging requirements.

The EPA projected the new rule could mean that 25 percent of new long-haul trucks, the heaviest on the road, and 40 percent of medium-size trucks, like box trucks and landscaping vehicles, could be nonpolluting by 2032. Today, fewer than two percent of new heavy trucks sold in the United States fit that bill.

The EPA’s regulation would apply to more than 100 types of vehicles, including tractor-trailers, ambulances, R.V.s, garbage trucks, and moving vans.

The rule does not mandate the sales of electric trucks or any other type of zero or low-emission truck. Rather, it increasingly limits the amount of pollution allowed from trucks across a manufacturer's product line over time, starting in model year 2027. It would be up to the manufacturer to decide how to comply.

The truck regulation follows another rule made final last week that is designed to ensure that the majority of new passenger cars and light trucks sold in the United States are all-electric or hybrids by 2032, up from just 7.6 percent last year.

It’s all part President Biden’s strategy to confront global warming. His administration has set a goal of cutting the nation’s emissions in half by the end of this decade.

The truck tailpipe limits are expected to prevent about a billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions by 2055, equivalent to the annual emissions from burning the gasoline carried by more than 13 million tanker trucks, according to the EPA. The agency estimates that by 2055, it will provide $13 billion in average annual net benefits to society related to public health, the climate and fuel savings for truck owners and operators.

While there are nearly 200,000 public chargers for electric passenger vehicles, there are currently just 5,000 charging stations in the United States that are capable of serving heavy trucks, according to the Engine Manufacturers Association (EMA). The association estimates that about 1 million of those chargers would be needed to serve the number of electric trucks envisioned by the truck regulation. .

“If the infrastructures are not there, customers simply will not be able to operate zero emission vehicles,” said Jed Mandel, president of the EMA. His organization includes the nation’s three largest truck manufacturers — Daimler Truck which owns Freightliner, Volvo Trucks and Traton, a unit of Volkswagen that owns Navistar.