Blog Post from American Trucking Associations

EPA Finds Cost, Environmental Benefits from Clean Diesel Technologies

October 15, 2009

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that reduced emissions from new diesel engines and equipment has had tremendous health, environmental and economic benefits. Through their Diesel Emissions Reduction Program the EPA found that purchasing new, clean diesel engines or retrofitting diesel-powered vehicles resulted in:

reducing 46,000 tons of nitrogen oxide, a key contributor to elevated smog levels, and 2,200 tons of particulate matter over the lifetime of diesel vehicles

conserving 3.2.million gallons of fuel annually under the SmartWay Clean Diesel Finance Program, which saves operators $8 million annually

generating public health benefits between $500 million to $1.4 billion

The American Trucking Associations (ATA) is proud to have been a part of the EPA's Clean Diesel Program and to have just received its second award from the EPA SmartWay Transport Partnership for its leadership in conserving energy and lowering greenhouse gas emissions from transportation and freight activities.

ATA's bold sustainability initiative would reduce fuel consumption by 86 billion gallons over ten years and reduce the carbon footprint of all vehicles by nearly a billion tons over the next decade. Part of that initiative includes the recommendation that shippers and carriers join the U.S. EPA SmartWay Transport Partnership Program in order to achieve greater national gains in fuel efficiency and carbon reduction.

The goal of the program is to look beyond the fuel economy of individual vehicles and use new management techniques and technologies to increase the amount of cargo moved per gallon of fuel for the whole fleet. SmartWay partners are estimated to reduce CO2 emissions by 119 million tons over the next nine years.

To find out more about ATA's bold sustainability program and the EPA SmartWay, visit www.trucksdeliver.org.