It’s been a while since I wrote a letter to Santa Claus, but for some reason, this year I feel compelled to put together a wish list for the trucking industry this holiday season. Here goes:
Dear Santa,
I sure hope the trucking industry is on the nice list this year. We’ve been very busy this year with the 580,000 active registered U.S. carriers hauling two-thirds of the total tonnage of goods shipped, according to the American Trucking Associations (ATA). We also employed 8.4 million people—that’s a lot of jobs.
Because we’ve been so good, particularly surviving a third year (maybe more) of a significant freight recession, I think it’s okay to ask you for a few things.
Can you help extend the range of battery-electric vehicles? And while you are at it, can you speed up the development of a nationwide charging infrastructure?
Speaking of infrastructure, can you do something about upgrading the conditions of our roads and bridges so that they are safer for all drivers, but especially truck drivers?
While this may seem greedy, can you do something about reducing highway congestion? The trucking industry takes big hits to productivity because of congestion, and trucks that are idling in traffic are emitting particulate matter (PM), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and greenhouse gases (GHG)—none of which are good for air quality.
I know truck drivers would really appreciate more parking spaces so they do not have to park illegally or unsafely when they need to take their mandated rest breaks. Many drivers stop driving 30 to 60 minutes before they have to in order to find a legal and safe parking spot. This negatively impacts productivity.
An uptick in new-vehicle sales would be a good thing. All suppliers have been suffering from lower volumes and revenue, and we know that one easy way to reduce emissions is to have new trucks, which tend to produce fewer emissions than their older counterparts.
It would be great if those new trucks were spec’d with aerodynamic devices and other technology that boosted mpg levels.
Also, it would be good if you could help fleets retrofit their existing trucks with efficiency-enhancing options, like setting engine parameters to optimize fuel economy.
Perhaps you can encourage more fleets to begin deploying alternative-fueled vehicles in applications where they make sense, as there are many duty cycles where they work quite effectively now.
Santa, I'm going to stop here with my wish list, even though it is much longer than I have space for.
I promise that NACFE will be on the nice list again next year because we plan to continue to publish unbiased reports throughout the year that share both the benefits and challenges of various technologies and encourage fleets to move faster into a cleaner freight future.
