Large Trucks Must Reduce Emissions as Much as 20%, U.S. Says

Large trucks in the U.S. must cut emissions as much as 20 percent by 2018 under the first standards proposed for work vehicles, the Obama administration said today.

Tractor-trailer trucks will have to meet the 20 percent target, while heavy-duty pickup trucks and vans must reduce emissions 10 percent for gas vehicles and 15 percent for those that are diesel-powered, the Environmental Protection Agency and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in an e- mailed statement. Buses, motor homes and garbage trucks must cut emissions 10 percent.

President Barack Obama’s administration has been raising fuel-efficiency standards for vehicles in the U.S. to curb pollution and reduce oil imports. Obama has said he plans to make the truck standards final by July 30, and they would take effect starting with 2014 models.

The government has never set targets for the heavy-duty trucks such as those that are used in construction and hauling and made by companies including Isuzu Motors Ltd., Daimler AG, Volvo AB, Hino Motors Ltd. and Paccar Inc. Light trucks such as standard pickups, sport-utility vehicles and minivans are covered by standards already set for automobiles.

The work trucks make up 4 percent of U.S. vehicles while accounting for 20 percent of the oil consumed, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based environmental group. Long-haul tractor-trailers get about 6.5 mpg, the group said.

Today’s action follows an April 1 announcement setting rules to boost U.S. automobile fuel-economy standards by about 30 percent over the next six years. Manufacturers must achieve an average of 35.5 miles mpg for 2016 model-year cars and light trucks, up from 27.3 mpg in 2011.

--Editors: Larry Liebert, Steve Geimann

To contact the reporter on this story: John Hughes in Washington at [email protected]

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Larry Liebert at [email protected]