Recent regulations and the technologies they’ve spawned dominated much of the discussion during Monday’s Shop Talk session at TMC. Participants posed questions about ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel, CJ-4 oil, diesel particulate filter lifecycles and idle-reduction legislation.
Regarding the latter, Marc Clark of FedEx Express drew applause from the audience after commenting on the status of federal idling regulations. Fleets have a difficult time knowing of and complying with the many state and municipal laws, and more uniformity is needed “before someone else dreams up a new anti-idling law in their city,” Clark said.
The requirement of ULSD fuel with 2007 emissions engines raised other questions, with one attendee asking how fleets would ensure compliance.
Bill Stahl with Cummins responded that inadvertently using the previous formulation of low-sulfur diesel with 500 ppm of sulfur vs. ULSD with about 15 ppm of sulfur is “not something to get overly concerned about if you get a tank full.” Stahl later added not to use low-sulfur diesel with CJ-4 oil.
Mark Bradshaw of Long Rider Lubricants added that CI-4 Plus will not hurt 2007 engines but could shorten the life of the DPF.
How diligent drivers will be in making sure they use ULSD was another concern raised. Session moderator Darry Stuart with DWS Fleet Management said it will continue to get harder to find the older formulations of fuel and that “the gas police are out there in force because they love the fines.”
Regarding DPFs, several fleet representatives said they felt a need for TMC to develop standards for what will constitute a reconditioned DPF, but that OEMs first would need to establish performance standards for the emissions control device.
