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By Tommy Hodges, Chairman, Titan Transfer Inc.
Appeared in The Shelbyville Times-Gazette Aug. 10, 2008
Appeared on PRNewswire on Sept. 17, 2008
While we had all heard of the issue of global warming and greenhouse gas emissions, it was Al Gore who brought home the inconvenient truth to many of us in the trucking industry back in 2006: an urgent climate crisis demands global action now.
My company and my colleagues at the American Trucking Associations (ATA) have now committed themselves to doing something about the threat. At the front of our minds is the knowledge that for every gallon of fuel we burn, 22.2 pounds of CO2 is emitted into the atmosphere. That striking statistic drove us through the challenging process of developing an industry-wide set of initiatives to reduce the greenhouse gases our industry generates.
It was my privilege to chair ATA’s high-level Sustainability Task Force, which brought together a cross section of our industry, including CEOs of major trucking companies, and CEOs of engine manufacturers. They had different interests but a shared goal of building a sustainable future for the industry.
Our industry is no stranger to cleaning up the atmosphere. Over the past 20 years we have eliminated 90 percent of the particulates from diesel fuel and lowered nitrous oxide emissions through new technology. When we started trying to approach this problem of CO2 we had a background and an understanding of both what that could cost the industry and the practical application that would go with it. What we came up with were six major points that our executive committee unanimously bought into, without one dissenting vote.
First of all, we call for a national speed limit of 65 miles per hour for all cars and trucks, and requiring speed limiters on all new trucks to be set at 68 miles per hour or less.
Secondly, decrease idling. Idling in our industry comes in two forms. One everyone can probably relate to – that’s called non-discretionary idling. That’s what we all do when we’re sitting in a traffic jam and we can’t go forward, backwards or sideways; we’re just stuck and very few of us will turn that engine off. Discretionary idling is where drivers leave their engines on at truck stops to power their appliances and heating systems – we are making progress here too by using energy-efficient options.
Our No. 3 proposal is to increase our participation in EPA SmartWaySM — this is a government program that works. To be a member of this program, you do a self-audit that shows how you’re stacking up. What technologies are you using, what things are you doing to enhance your fuel burn so that you become more efficient, using every gallon in the most efficient way that you can.
No. 4 is reducing congestion. I have often likened our industry to the blood that flows through the veins in our bodies. If you can envision our industry being like that blood that flows through the economic engine of this country, when you have congestion, you have problems. And we have problems. It causes a lot of the environmental problems that we also have to deal with. We need to get more productive.
Our item No. 5 is we have one driver, one truck and driving down the road by himself and he’s limited in what load that he can handle. We’ve got to figure out ways, whether that’s increase weights or increase lengths of trailers, combination trailers, or uniform standards in the Western part of the United States to become more productive, to get more value out of every gallon of fuel that we burn.
And then finally we are supporting national fuel economy standards to work with the OEMs — the original equipment manufacturers — to come up with standards that help us get a better burn of fuel.
We must always remember that 100 percent of the communities in this country are served by truck, and 80 percent are served only by trucks. So the people in every community depends on trucks. Trucks are here to stay, which is why our programs make common sense, they make economic sense, they make business sense, and above all they make environmental sense. They help lead the way to a cleaner tomorrow.
Tommy Hodges is chairman of Titan Transfer Inc. of Shelbyville, Tenn., and is a vice chairman of the board of the American Trucking Associations of Arlington, Va. ATA represents more than 37,000 companies encompassing every type of motor carrier in the United States.
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