The American Trucking Association's members are looking for ways to save fuel and so far they have come up with the following ideas:
- Limit the speed new trucks can travel to no more than 68 mph and reduce the national speed limit to 65 mph for all vehicles.
- Reduce engine idling.
- Increase fuel efficiency through participation in an Environmental Protection Agency partnership program.
- Ease congestion by improving the nation's highways, through a fuels tax increase if necessary.
- Use more productive truck combinations.
- Support national fuel economy standards for trucks.
Okay, so they want to raise gas taxes and reinstitute a national speed limit. Let's see how many politicians they can line up behind those two ideas: crickets chirping. Yeah, that's what I thought. Certainly truckers are on the front lines of the diesel's price spike. I think a lot of what they are proposing will occur naturally without legislation. Major air carriers are slowing down to save fuel and there's no law behind that. Truckers can choose to back off their accelerator as well. Reduced idling can be integrated into both future truck designs and also at truck rest areas where either auxiliary power units or innovations like IdleAire can reduce the need to keep the truck's engine running. Going forward, fleet managers will demand greater fuel economy and they'll be willing to pay a premium for it.
I should add that I am not comparing the ATA to Dr. Evil but rather the phrase "eighty six billion" which sounds like something he'd say.
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