Diesel at $5: Clean Transport Advocates Call on Truck Manufacturers to Help U.S. Trucking Switch to Electric

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Diesel prices have surged even faster than gasoline, the national average hit $5.10 per gallon on March 19. Higher diesel means higher costs for trucking, shipping, and groceries; a full supply chain hit.

Truck manufacturers must step up to help the U.S. trucking industry transition to electric trucks as diesel prices surge past $5 a gallon, by providing more affordable trucks and ending their opposition to regulation underpinning the shift, say industry experts and clean transport advocates.

The four main truck manufacturers — Daimler, Volvo Group, Paccar and International Motors (a subsidiary of Traton) — have lobbied to scrap regulation and are suing California to get out of an agreement they signed committing to clean trucks standards. These regulatory rollbacks are already slowing the growth of zero-emission truck deployment in the US — a 49% year-over-year decline in growth, according to a recent report. By contrast, an estimated 25% of new trucks sold in China last year were electric.

Prices of electric trucks in the U.S. are higher than in Europe — and the costs for fleets are largely kept secret, obscuring the true costs of electric trucks and stifling the transition as diesel prices soar. Prices for class 8 electric trucks have increased 27% since 2020 but in Europe an equivalent truck decreased by 32%, according to research.

Quotes:

Katherine García, Sierra Club Clean Transportation for All Director:

“Rather than leading the shift away from costly diesel in the U.S., truck manufacturers are doubling down on lobbying against vital federal standards and delaying the move to cleaner, more efficient electric trucks. As diesel prices surge past $5 a gallon, this should be a wake-up call in a crisis moment. Manufacturers have the technology and must act now to drive electrification forward.”

Guillermo Ortiz, Senior Clean Vehicles Advocate, NRDC: 

“You can’t build a resilient economy on $5-a-gallon diesel and secret price tags. US truck manufacturers are dragging their feet, fighting the very regulations that would scale production and lower costs. While Europe moves toward affordable zero-emission freight, the Big Four are leaving American truckers stuck at the pump, paying the price for their refusal to innovate.”

Craig Segall, former Deputy Executive Officer and Assistant Chief Counsel of the California Air Resources Board.

“With diesel above five bucks a gallon, it costs more today than it did yesterday to ship pretty much everything. The only long-term way out is to get truckers into affordable electric trucks, but giant truck companies are standing in the way. They need to stop denying Americans the affordable e-trucks that folks have overseas, and they need to do that now.”

Mary Peveto, Co-Director, Neighbors for Clean Air:

“The public health cost of burning diesel fuel has long been borne by our most vulnerable populations, in the form of serious adverse health impacts including premature death, heart attacks, asthma attacks, and other respiratory ailments that can lead to days missed at work and at school. With diesel fuel prices skyrocketing we have new impetus to align the business case with public health to move faster to solutions that reduce diesel emissions.

Background info on truck manufacturers role in dismantling clean trucks regulation:

• Truck manufacturers through their lobby groups lobbied Congress last year against rules on clean trucks — Congress subsequently voted to dismantle the standards.
• Daimler, Volvo Group, Paccar and International Motors sued California last August over the Clean Truck Partnership, an agreement with the California Air Resources Board centering on support for standards to tackle deadly air pollution, lower costs in trucking and boost innovation through the sale of electric trucks. Over 50,000 people signed petitions calling on the truck manufacturers to drop the lawsuit
• In addition to opposing regulation on clean trucks, Daimler also supported the rollback of the Endangerment Finding, the linchpin policy that allows the US to regulate GHGs including from vehicle emissions and other sources. Notably, Daimler was the only vehicle manufacturer to publicly support the repeal.
• U.S. federal estimates show clean trucking standards could save the trucking industry $3.5 billion annually in fuel and maintenance costs.

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person’s right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.