Truckers seek more flexible rules for green technology
Last Updated: Monday, October 15, 2007 | 6:05 PM ET
CBC News
It's not easy being green — and following provincial trucking regulations at the same time, says the Canadian Trucking Alliance.
The group drove a convoy of "Envirotrucks" to Gatineau's Jacques Cartier Park Monday to showcase technologies that cut greenhouse gas and smog emissions from transport trucks and to push the federal government for more flexible, uniform rules that will allow those technologies be used in Canada without sacrificing cargo space.
Right now, provincial regulations ban regular-sized freight trucks equipped with some "green" technologies from many of the country's highways, said alliance CEO David Bradley.
Parallel to their news conference, the group released a study Monday by the U.S.-based Rocky Mountain Institute that estimates that if all 294,000 Canadian heavy-duty trucks were equipped with a full package of energy-efficient technologies, it would save fuel and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an amount equivalent to taking 64,000 of the trucks, or 2.6 million cars, off the road.
Technologies such as aerodynamic flaps make trucks more frugal with fuel. But the flaps stick out so the truck is longer than some provinces allow. One solution is to shorten the cargo section of the truck, but the trucking industry isn't willing to do that.
Claude Robert, head of Robert Transport, said current regulations mean the driver of an Envirotruck heading from Ontario to Vancouver must go via the U.S.
"Because he is not allowed to go to Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan," he said. "So this is the portion which is … frustrating."
The industry is pushing for various fuel-saving technologies in part because heavy components that eliminate smog also reduce a truck's fuel efficiency and boost greenhouse gas emissions.
"It's an odd situation, but as it stands now, the cleaner the trucks get from an air quality perspective, the worse they are from a GHG [greenhouse gas] perspective," Bradley said in statement.
At the news conference, he used handkerchiefs that stayed completely white after being held over truck exhaust pipes to demonstrate a "smog-free" engine that virtually eliminates particulate matter, the sooty component of smog made up of small solid particles that can damage human lungs.
But it adds almost 225 kilograms to the truck's weight, pushing it over the maximum allowed in some provinces, and increasing the amount of fuel the truck consumes.
Other fuel-saving technologies that the alliance is pushing include:
- Auxiliary power units that reduce idling by allowing trucks to keep cargo refrigeration and other power-consuming processes going while the engine is off.
- Low-resistance tires.
- Speed limit devices that lower a truck's maximum speed to 105 km/h.
The alliance also wants the government to implement an incentive program similar to the Energy Star program that rates household appliances for energy efficiency, encouraging consumers to choose more efficient products.
