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TRUCK WEST june 2013
Study proves emissions testing program for trucks unnecessary: BCTA LANGLEY, B.C. – The B.C. Trucking Association (BCTA) says a mandatory AirCare-like emissions testing program for trucks would be wasteful and unnecessary, based on the results of a recent remote sensing study of truck emissions. The study, entitled Remote Sensing Device Trial for Monitoring Heavy-Duty Vehicle Emissions and conducted in the Metro Vancouver area last summer and fall, concluded that most trucks tested are operating within the standards mandated for with their particular engine year, and that emissions from newer trucks reflect the increasingly stringent engine emissions standards that were introduced in the 1990s and tightened significantly in 2007 and again in 2010. The study was commissioned by Metro Vancouver in collaboration with the Fraser Valley Regional District, AirCare, Port Metro Vancouver
The BCTA says a recent study on heavy-duty truck emissions proves they’re clean and that no AirCare-type program is required for trucks.
and the B.C. ministries of Environment and Transportation and Infrastructure. “The Metro Vancouver study confirms what we already knew,” said Louise Yako, BCTA president and CEO. “The diesel engine emissions stan-
dards introduced in 1994 and tightened further in 1998, 2004, 2007 and 2010 are yielding impressive results in terms of reduced air emissions from trucks with diesel engines.” The BCTA estimates that model year
2007 and newer trucks currently account for 35% of the heavy-duty truck fleet across the province. The BCTA further estimates, based on a fleet replacement rate of 5.5% per year, that model year 2007 and newer trucks will make up more than half (52%) of all heavy-duty trucks in B.C. by 2015 and 63% of the fleet by 2017. “A large-scale AirCare-like emissions testing program for trucks would impose unreasonable costs on the industry and produce very limited results,” added Yako, pointing to an emissions testing program for heavyduty trucks in Ontario which has produced a failure rate of less than 4%. “As older trucks are retired and replaced with newer, cleaner trucks, diesel emissions will naturally decline over time, making an onerous and expensive testing program unnecessary.”
AMTA working on enhanced driver training standard CALGARY, Alta. – The Alberta Motor Transport Association (AMTA) wants to develop a minimum commercial driver training standard, and recognize drivers who’ve met the new standard with a special designation on their licence. The association says it will soon start developing the standard and will present it to the province later this year. “AMTA would like to see the province recognize commercial truck drivers with a special designation on their licence,” said AMTA executive director Don Wilson. “Professional drivers should meet a training standard to attain a professional designation and maintain that designation through continuing education.” AMTA president Dan Duckering, added “Professional drivers undergo extensive training that goes well beyond what is required for a provincial licence. Yet at this time there is no recognition for that advanced training or the high-level of skill that professional drivers attain.” AMTA has put together a stakeholder committee it says spans many sectors of the province’s economy, to collaborate on what the new standard should entail. The committee wont reestablish qualifications for a Class 1 licence, but instead will develop a professional designation for those who transport goods for-hire. “Albertans will benefit from minimum commercial training standards for commercial drivers too,” said Wilson. “Setting a minimum standard will enhance road safety across the board and make driving a more attractive occupation for career seekers. We have targeted the fall to deliver a proposal to the minister. The committee has set out to determine what a minimum standard should consist of, to find a standard acceptable to all stakeholders and to outline what continuing education of commercial drivers will include.” There are 132,000 Class 1 licenceholders in Alberta.
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