Trucking groups are seeking to keep up the industry’s summer hot streak of winning regulatory decisions.
On the heels of North America’s heavy-duty truck OEMs filing a lawsuit against California’s Air Resources Board (CARB) over its enforcement of the Clean Truck Partnership and the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) announcement of its intent to eliminate greenhouse gas (GHG) regulations, the American Trucking Associations (ATA) led a coalition Wednesday in submitting a letter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin requesting a delay of the EPA’s heavy-duty NOx rule until 2031.
ATA was joined by 49 state associations (all but Connecticut), the Truckload Carriers Association and National Tank Truck Carriers in submitting its letter regarding the NOx rule, which was finalized in 2022 and is currently scheduled for implementation in the 2027 model year.
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In the letter, the groups wrote, “The heavy-duty NOx rule imposes substantial compliance costs and operational burdens at a time when the trucking industry is already contending with historically difficult market conditions. With prolonged weakness in freight demand and inflationary cost pressures, the rule’s 2027 implementation timeline threatens to intensify strain across our industry.”
The groups wrote they believe the four-year delay would enable engine manufacturers to continue meeting today’s stringent 0.20 g/bhp-hr. NOx standard and would ”provide an economic lifeline for the trucking industry, while ensuring continued emissions reductions.”
The groups also requested EPA conduct a full review of its NOx regulations and noted the EPA would need to finalize this review and rulemaking process by the end of 2026 to provide engine manufacturers with the requisite lead time for implementation in 2031.
The NOx rule has always loomed a major inflection point for the industry, and was the expected to generate a pre-buy in 2025 and 2026 before tariff and economic uncertainty weakened the freight market.
”An implementation delay will provide much-needed near-term certainty, and a full reconsideration of the heavy-duty standards will help ensure the trucking industry’s ability to affordably deliver our nation’s freight in a safe and efficient way. Without these actions, especially under today’s challenging economic conditions, an unsustainable burden will be placed on fleets and equipment manufacturers alike,” the organizations wrote.
