Trucking Fuel Standards To Be Set By Federal Government
President Obama set into motion the process whereby fuel standards will be set for medium and heavy trucks by two agencies of the federal government.
As any trucker knows, the cost of fuel is a huge issue in the loss or profitability of at trucking operation, particularly for smaller, independent trucks. In signing an order putting two agencies in charge of setting fuel standards for the trucking industry, the issue is whether the President has eased the fuel pressure or not.
On one hand, the new standards should help long term. When they come online in 2017, they will set a new standard for mileage in that it is expected trucks will see mileage improve by a whopping 25 percent as mandated. That is huge, and a savings that can arguably be transferred through to customers.
On the other hand, one should have paid close attention to all the CEOs from the big truck manufacturers standing behind the President when he signed the order. They were all smiling for a reason. New standards mean new trucks. While older trucks will not have to meet new guidelines, you are going to need to make larger capital outlays at some point to buy one of these trucks.
Think you can hold off? Well, it will be difficult while competitors are passing on cheaper prices to their customers based on the fuel costs of the new, more efficient trucks. How will you compete with that? If you are a small trucker, putting aside money to buy new rigs is critical. Doing that in this economy is nearly impossible. Although things are supposed to be looking up, most in the hauling business have yet to see it.