Mike
Well-Known Member
Certain trucks in Texas could soon be allowed to idle without truckers having to worry about setting their stopwatch. The Texas Senate voted Tuesday, March 22, to advance a bill that would permit trucks with “clean idle” engines to idle while also providing an incentive to reduce idling.
Texas law now limits idling to five minutes per hour from April to October in cities that include Austin and Dallas. Counties that make idling off limits are Bastrop, Caldwell, Collin, Hays, Kaufman, Tarrant, Travis and Williamson.
Awaiting further consideration in the House, the bill – SB493 – would remove the idling restriction for trucks equipped with a 2008 model year or newer engine that is certified by the Environmental Protection Agency. Heavy-duty engines certified by a state environmental agency to emit fewer than 30 grams of NOx per hour would also qualify.
In the bill analysis, Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, wrote that “during many months of the year, it is impossible for a driver to get the rest he or she needs without air conditioning or heat.”
OOIDA Senior Member Danny Schnautz of Pasadena, TX, said the idling issue in Texas warrants attention. Schnautz is in charge of operations, sales and accounting for Clark Freight Lines in Pasadena, TX.
“During the summer months we’re forced to sit in this hotbox. Anything that moves toward the flexibility of letting the truck idle is a good thing,” Schnautz recently told Land Line.
A separate provision in the bill would increase the maximum weight limits for large trucks equipped with idle-reduction technology.
Full Story
Texas law now limits idling to five minutes per hour from April to October in cities that include Austin and Dallas. Counties that make idling off limits are Bastrop, Caldwell, Collin, Hays, Kaufman, Tarrant, Travis and Williamson.
Awaiting further consideration in the House, the bill – SB493 – would remove the idling restriction for trucks equipped with a 2008 model year or newer engine that is certified by the Environmental Protection Agency. Heavy-duty engines certified by a state environmental agency to emit fewer than 30 grams of NOx per hour would also qualify.
In the bill analysis, Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, wrote that “during many months of the year, it is impossible for a driver to get the rest he or she needs without air conditioning or heat.”
OOIDA Senior Member Danny Schnautz of Pasadena, TX, said the idling issue in Texas warrants attention. Schnautz is in charge of operations, sales and accounting for Clark Freight Lines in Pasadena, TX.
“During the summer months we’re forced to sit in this hotbox. Anything that moves toward the flexibility of letting the truck idle is a good thing,” Schnautz recently told Land Line.
A separate provision in the bill would increase the maximum weight limits for large trucks equipped with idle-reduction technology.
Full Story
