Tampering with emission control devices to improve fuel efficiency might seem like a gamble worth taking. But the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is determined to stack the odds against truck drivers who try it.
Studies indicate the emissions control devices retrofitted in older vehicles and those coming off assembly lines reduce fuel efficiency significantly. Given 18-wheelers burn upwards of 20,500 gallons annually, rising fuel costs motivated some truckers and freight carriers to alter with these devices. That’s largely why the EPA launched its National Compliance Initiative designed to crack down on aftermarket tampering.
“Aftermarket defeat devices are a significant contributor to harmful air pollution,” EPA Compliance Assurance Division official Diane Huffman reportedly said. “These illegal practices also impede federal, state and local efforts to implement air quality standards that protect public health.”
The EPA recently punished a pair of Mid-Western companies engaged in employing defeat devices to reverse the pollution-capturing technology’s impact on miles per gallon. According to reports, South Central Diesel was hit with a $50,954 fine and Midwest Truck Products incurred a $75,000 penalty. EPA officials indicated that both outfits either tinkered with the emissions devices or sold products to defeat them. Tampering typically involves the following methods.
- Taking out hardware, filters, and catalysts located in the emission control system. These usually involve Exhaust Gas Recirculation, Diesel Particulate Filter, or Selective Catalytic Reduction.
- By replacing or manipulating the software or calibrations, known as “tuning.” The strategy also seeks to trick the onboard diagnostic system from identifying changes.
In recent years, upwards of 13 percent of truckers and freight hauling outfits acted on their fuel cost frustration by removing or tampering with devices. But the Clean Air Act is not necessarily another government overreaching to a problem that hurts the income of blue-collar people.
The Clean Air Act provisions are supported by hard data that demonstrates lowering airborne pollutants protects everyday people from serious respiratory and other health problems. Among the damaging contaminants caught by these devices are nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons, among others. These pollutants have been linked to conditions such as lung disease, heart attacks, and asthma. Emissions also remain problematic in causing low-level smog that negatively impacts health and wellness.
For those considering taking a risk by tampering or removing devices to increase fuel efficiency, there are more compelling reasons to abstain. Pollution remains a very real threat to community members, especially young children. The regulatory penalties are not reserved for outfits that tamper or remove them. Truckers who engage in tampering, removal, or work with a company to do the deed are culpable as well. Taking a $50,000 to $75,000 fine and a hit to your CDL is definitely not worth the gamble.
Source: wizmnews.com
how about getting someone else to deliver the freight. and take that electric log book and stick it where the sun don,t shine ….im just happy i did my over the road driving,,(1977 to 2019) with out the b.s
It’s not the MPG. It’s the excessive heat and wear and tear on the motor and other components. Right now there are1,000’s of trucks sitting idle waiting for a sensor for the DEF system. Typical pencil pushers in Washington come up with a solution without a problem. Trucks were burning amazingly clean before this junk. I’m a company guy so I don’t care about the junk truck, but if it was mine, I’d bypass it in a second.
Maybe the garbage shouldnt get in our way when we are trying to roll some miles