The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) has unveiled a 14-point action plan to drastically reduce smog and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the freight transportation sector.

According to CTA, the proposed measures would have the equivalent impact in terms of air quality and greenhouse gases (GHG) of removing over 200,000 heavy trucks from Canadian roads.

CTA’s action plan includes the following elements:

• a call to the federal government to provide tax incentives to trucking companies who adopt the new 2007 engine technology, which will reduce the emission of particulate matter (PM) by 90 percent (This would help promote the technology’s penetration into the entire Canadian fleet.)



• measures to increase the installation of auxiliary power units to reduce truck idling



• a suggestion to increase the use of a new generation of single, wide-base tires, which offer significant fuel economy savings, but which is presently limited by restrictions on truck weights and dimensions standards developed in the 1980s



• a proposal to allow non-payload aerodynamic improvements and other vehicle design enhancements, which are currently also hindered by the restrictions on truck weights and dimensions standards



• calls upon the federal and provincial governments to more clearly define which biodiesel blends are being considered for trucks, to run joint pilot programs to ensure that operational concerns associated with using biodiesel in the new smog-free trucks in Canadian conditions are addressed, and to introduce and enforce stringent biodiesel quality, manufacturing and testing standards, before considering a mandate for biodiesel use in commercial trucks



• a proposal that other freight modes – rail, marine and air – should be subject to the same type of stringent fuel and engine emissions standards as trucks, given that they too affect air quality and produce greenhouse gas emissions



• a call upon all ministers of transportation from across the country to endorse a CTA proposal to require the speed limiters on all trucks to be activated and set at no more than 105 km/hr

While CTA acknowledged that there are challenges to making its plan a reality - not the least of which is the federal and provincial governments’ split jurisdiction over trucking regulations - it pointed out that the opportunities to reduce emissions from the trucking industry are significant. As such, CTA expressed hope that the federal and provincial governments will work with CTA and the industry to realize the plan. BCTA will be approaching the B.C. Ministers of Environment and Transportation to discuss the implementation of CTA’s recommendations under provincial jurisdiction.