Truck Parts and Service | Heavy Duty Trucking, Aftermarket, Service Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/553583
4 T here are a lot of good things that could come from the passage of the Environmental Protec- tion Agency's (EPA) Phase II fuel economy/greenhouse gas proposed rule, but what it could do to the glider kit industry isn't one of them. Under the proposed rule, a glider kit — basically a truck without an engine, transmission or rear axles — would be treated the same as a new truck off the line, and would be expected to meet current-day emissions standards despite being powered by prior-standard model year equipment. Basically, if you install a 2010 engine in a 2018 glider kit, that 2010 engine had better be at least 2018 complaint. A glider kit's primary selling point is its sticker price, but under the current EPA proposal, all that incentive will disappear and it may take the entire industry with it. Roughly 10,000 glider kits are sold annually and failing to offer an exemp- tion for glider kits removes any incentive to purchase or manufacture them, which basically could kill the glider kit and related industries. There also are other considerations. I don't want to get into a lot of doom- and-gloom tin foil hat-type predictions here, but do we really want the govern- ment deciding if a rebuilt or remanufac- tured powertrain changes a truck's new/ used status? If, in 2018, you're rebuilding a 2010 engine, must it suddenly be 2018 compliant? That seems unlikely since most often the engine never leaves the truck, but new components are used and you never really know how lawmakers will interpret their own rules from year to year. "Where do you stop," asks Brian Har- rison, whose company sells glider kits. "If we can't take a donor truck off the road and put a glider kit on the road, at what point can [the EPA] come in and say, 'you can't rebuild an engine anymore'? but instead need to get an all new engine. "Or if they say, 'If you're going to rebuild your engine, you need to bring it up to current EPA standards,' which would be disastrous." The proposed rule comes at a time where the use of remanufactured components is more popular than ever before. In fact, just this spring, the U.S. House panel approved legislation that will al- low for the use of remanufactured parts when repairing federal fl eet vehicles; a move that is expected to save more than $1 billion in repair costs. I'm not comparing replacing an alter- nator on a mail truck to buying a glider kit, but the House panel clearly recog- nizes the fi nancial advantages of using the remanufacturing supply chain. Those benefi ts don't change just be- cause the VIN number does. H.R. 2822, an amendment that would have given glider kits a reprieve from enforcement, passed the House on a voice vote last month but was mired in unrelated Confederate Flag controversy. As it stands now, that amendment is unlikely to pass. The question that needs to be an- swered before Phase II is enacted is what most defi nes the truck. Is it the manu- facture date of the frame structure or the powertrain? And if those two are ever separated, what happens then? As Lucas Deal eludes to in his column on page 2, Phase II is expected to cause sticker prices on new trucks to jump, making glider kits an even more fi nan- cially viable option, assuming they are still an option at all. T R U C K P A R T S & S E R V I C E | A u g u s t 2 0 1 5 Editorial | Jason Cannon Phase II spells bad news for glider kits By Jason Cannon, Online Editor jasoncannon@randallreilly.com At what point can (the EPA) come in and say, 'You can't rebuild an engine anymore.'?