Biden’s EPA Rule Change May Cause Election-Year Trucking Strike

A potential “election-year truckers strike” may be on the horizon with the latest guidelines issued by the Biden administration as part of their climate change agenda.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a new rules for Phase 3 of their green agenda now affecting heavy-duty vehicle emission standards included in the bloated omnibus bill with the trucking industry holding the short end of the stick.

EPA administrator Michael Regan issued a statement about the agency’s 1,155-page regulation update now affecting over 100 types of trucks, buses, and vans.  Regan said, “I’m so proud to announce that EPA is finalizing the strongest national greenhouse gas standards for heavy-duty vehicles in history.”

“In finalizing these emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles like trucks and buses, EPA is significantly cutting pollution from the hardest-working vehicles on the road,” he said with the new rules set to be implemented in 2027.  The new standards would force the entire transportation industry to refit all fleets in order to become compliant. “Building on our recently finalized rule for light- and medium-duty vehicles, EPA’s strong and durable vehicle standards respond to the urgency of the climate crisis by making deep cuts in emissions from the transportation sector.”

The American Trucking Associations immediately called out the ridiculous rule changes saying the “one-size-fits-all” will choke America’s supply chain needs.

“We oppose the emission standards for heavy-duty trucks announced today by EPA. The post-2030 targets remain entirely unachievable given the current state of zero-emission technology, the lack of charging infrastructure & restrictions on the power grid,” the ATA president Chris Spear said. “Given the wide range of operations required of our industry to keep the economy running, a successful emission regulation must be technology neutral and cannot be one-size-fits-all. Any regulation that fails to account for the operational realities of trucking will set the industry and America’s supply chain up for failure.”

He noted, “The trucking industry is fully committed to the road to zero emissions, but the path to get there must be paved with commonsense. While we are disappointed with today’s rule, we will continue to work with EPA to address its shortcomings and advance emission-reduction targets and timelines that are both realistic and durable.”