Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/757641
December 2016 | Overdrive | 37 offers remanufactured post-2010 engines that still use EGR and DEF. Next year, glider vehicle makers can build as many gliders with pre-2010 emis- sions as their highest year of production between 2010 and 2014, per the Phase 2 rule's allowance. After that, glider vehicle makers can build up to 300 trucks a year that do not comply with Phase 2 standards. The 300-truck allowance also applies to truckers who want to build their own glider vehicles at home with kits pur- chased directly from truck manufacturers such as Peterbilt and Freightliner. That means operators are free to install, by themselves or through a shop that hasn't exceeded the 300-truck allowance, a pre- 2010 engine into a glider kit. While such trucks are compliant under Phase 2 standards, most of them still are forbidden from operating in California. The state currently requires all trucks op- erating within its borders to comply with EPA 2007 standards. By 2023, California will require all trucks operating there to meet EPA 2010 standards. Fitzgerald has been mum on the spe- cifics of its plans. Spokesperson Stu Mc- Laughin says the company has a dozen engineers on staff, working on compli- ance, lightweighting and other aspects of the Detroit Series 60 engines. "We're confident we'll be able to test our products and meet the new stan- dards," he says. "Our plans for produc- tion are still in accordance with what we feel works for us and what sales trends in the past couple of years dictate." The rule "clearly states they definitely anticipate kits to be built for years and years," McLaughin says. "They just want them to be compliant. Gliders represent such a small percentage of truck sales, but within that small market, it would be a crushing blow to say 'no kits.' " Fitzgerald tractors, new except for their rebuilt engines and remanufactured transmissions, run about $10,000 less than comparable new tractors sold by dealers. McLaughin says the company is unsure how the new standards will affect pricing, but there likely will be "updates" to current pricing. Phase 2 sets new hurdles for engines, tractors and trailers, some going into ef- fect as early as next year. New standards for engines begin in 2018. They grad- ually tighten until 2027, when engines will be required to achieve 5 to 6 percent greater fuel economy when compared to 2017 benchmarks. The ballooning growth of glider kit production – from about 1,000 trucks sold in 2007 to about 10,000 units last year – caught the eye of regulators with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Transportation. "The market was figuring out ways to circumvent cleaner, newer emis- sions-standards engines," says Matt Spears, head of EPA's heavy-duty on- road sector. "In the Phase 2 rule, we said, yeah, this does appear to be a loophole. So that's why we proposed to do some- thing about it – because of the dispro- portionately large impact on particulate matter and NOx emissions that these relatively small sales numbers had." EPA estimates annual greenhouse gas emissions of 10,000 kits to be equivalent to 200,000 2010-compliant engines – Since Phase 2 standards were initiated at an agency level rather than dictated by Congress, there's a small glimmer of hope for their opponents, says Lane Kidd, head of the Trucking Alliance, a carrier coalition. "There's a chance, but whether there's probability – that's the big question," he said. The chance involves not only having pro-business Republican control of Congress and the White House, but also using an uncommon procedure to kill Phase 2. Congress could choose to pass a Congressional Review Act resolution – "a rare bird," as Glen Kedzie of the American Trucking Associations calls it. CRAs can be used by Congress to block rules developed by executive branch agencies, such as the U.S. Environ- mental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Transportation, the two departments that produced the Phase 2 emissions regulations. If Congress passed a CRA, the president could nullify Phase 2 with the stroke of a pen. Since its 1996 passage, however, the CRA has been used successfully only once. Lawmakers could be reluctant to try to pass a CRA to address the Phase 2 emissions since they were developed jointly by two agencies. A CRA also would prompt a wave of lawsuits, Kedzie says. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association plans to engage the Trump administration on Phase 2 regula- tions in hopes of having them re-evalu- ated or at least extending their 10-year phase-in, says Todd Spencer, executive vice president. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), who represents the district where Fitzgerald Glider Kits is based, proposed legislation to exempt glider kit makers from Phase 2 standards. The legislation has seen no action since its introduction last year. WILL GOP CONTROL KILL PHASE 2 STANDARDS? One of the benefits of glider vehicles is purchasing a more highly spec'd vehicle, such as this Kenworth W900 Icon glider produced by Fitzgerald, at a price cheaper than a comparable new truck.