The American Trucking Associations (ATA) has launched a program of initiatives to set the industry on the road toward a more sustainable future under the banner Trucks Deliver a Cleaner Tomorrow.
The program identifies a series of initiatives that will reduce fuel consumption and combat the challenge of global climate change through innovative ways to reduce CO2 emissions, ATA said in a press release.
“ATA has committed itself to a series of measures that can reduce fuel consumption by 86 billion gallons and CO2 emissions by 900 million tons for all vehicles over the next 10 years,” said Bill Graves ATA president and chief executive officer. “Our proposals are practical, reasonable, and doable. They make environmental sense, and they make common sense.”
The report includes six key recommendations to reduce fuel consumption and addresses the impact of these activities on the environment. They are the equivalent of eliminating the carbon dioxide generated by 9.6 million Americans for one year —roughly equal to the population of the Chicago metropolitan area. The recommendations are displayed on a new ATA Web site, trucksdeliver.org together with full details of the trucking industry’s new commitments on sustainability:
•Set governors on new trucks to limit speeds to no more than 68 mph and reduce the national speed limit to 65 mph for all vehicles.
•Reduce engine idling.
•Increase fuel efficiency by encouraging participation in the EPA SmartWay Transport Partnership Program.
•Reduce congestion by improving highways, if necessary by raising the fuels tax.
•Use more productive truck combinations.
•Support national fuel economy standards for trucks.