Talk about short-sighted thinking. According to the Administration, “the marginal benefit of these individual retrofits is small given the large universe of existing diesel engines, and the grants only push forward in time reductions to emissions that would happen anyway, as the inventory of existing diesel engines turns over.”
The Administration also argues that the program has “largely succeeded” but because the program “retrofits and replaces newer engines, its cost effectiveness decreases, because the same amount of grant funding results in less substantial emissions reductions.”
(There are other transportation-related cuts proposed in the President's entire budget. You can read it here)
When the new diesel emissions regulations went into effect in 2007, and then were tightened in 2010, there is no doubt that newer engines have significantly cleaned the air. But these 2007 and newer diesel engines account for less than half of all diesel engines on the road today.
There are approximately 8 million commercial trucks on the road today, with an average fleet age approaching 6.7 years, meaning there are likely some 4 million commercial vehicles traveling roads today that pre-date the 2007 engine emissions requirements – and that number may be higher since used-truck owners are turning over their vehicles significantly less frequently than fleets. How many people are still running 10, 15, or even 20 year-old vehicles? Quite a few.
Martin Daum, president & CEO of Daimler Trucks North America, told Fleet Owner last fall that there is a “clear trend to 5-year/500,000-mi. trade cycles now.”
