Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/378850
COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2014 15 JOURNAL NEWS T he Senate last month introduced its version of a bill to mitigate the weight of natural gas truck tanks and to prevent natural gas adopters from being at a competitive disadvantage. The bill (S.2721), introduced by Sens. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), was referred to the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee and is the chamber's com- panion bill to the House's H.R. 3940 introduced in January. Dubbed the Natural Gas Long Haul Truck Competitiveness Act, the Senate bill, like the House's version, would allow trucks running natural gas to exceed weight limits by the difference of "the weight of the vehicle attributable to the natural gas tank and fueling system" and "the weight of a comparable diesel tank and fueling system." Unlike the House's version, however, this bill comes to the Senate by itself, whereas the House's weight exemption bill was part of a trio of natural gas bills aimed at promoting use in trucking through public policy. The House's other two bills would establish a task force to identify barri- ers to natural gas adoption in truck- ing and direct the U.S. Department of Transportation to designate or prioritize certain cross-country "natural gas cor- ridors." "Natural gas is a clean and affordable domestic energy resource that has the potential to drive American energy inde- pendence to reality," Inhofe said. "The additional weight of natural gas fueling systems eats into the total the trucks are allowed to weigh under current federal regulation, leaving it at a disadvantage to its diesel counterpart. This legisla- tion brings the federal regulation for long-haul trucks into the 21st century by giving natural gas-powered trucks the ability to compete on the same play- ing field in the amount of freight it can transport." – James Jaillet Text INFO to 205-289-3554 or visit www.ccjdigital.com/info Senate bill would allow weight exemption for NG users The Senate bill would give natural gas- powered trucks an exemption to federal truck weight standards.