This morning as I wove my way the 32 miles from Ojai (Oh Hi) to my office in Santa Barbara, enjoying the peace and freedom brought to perfection by the sibilant purr of motorcycle in the dark of night on a deserted mountain road, nothing was further from my thoughts than the blockbuster awaiting me in my cache of e-mail.
But there, right on top of the stack was a sponsored message posted by Transport Topics, headlined “Daimler Trucks North America”:
To the Trucking Industry:
We had a decade to prepare for 2010 emissions standards and all but one heavy-duty trucking manufacturer invested the time, money and brainpower to develop the best technology to meet stringent new requirements. All but one manufacturer, Navistar, came to the same solution that would best serve you, our trucking industry customers of North America.
Although we’re competitors, the rest of us understood the importance of the larger cause, and we worked together to do our part to improve air quality for the safety of future generations. How can Navistar claim it’s concerned about the environment while its proposed 2010 product spews two and a half times the 2010 NOx standard into the air we breathe every day?
Manufacturers, suppliers, government agencies and associations invested time and resources to develop innovations to achieve the emissions goal in spite of economic challenges because we know it’s the right thing to do.
Navistar is selling thousands of pre-2010 engines, while the rest of the industry is selling EPA 2010-certified products. Navistar apparently has no EPA-compliant emissions technology for 2010 and beyond, at least nothing that does not use credits to achieve compliance.
Don’t trucking industry customers of North America deserve better?
We believe you do. And, as an industry that prides itself on professionalism, integrity and honesty, we have every reason to demand the same of Navistar.
Learn more about SCR and watch real customers discuss the benefits of this technology, or see our full-page ad in the August 9th edition of Transport Topicsfor our complete statement on this issue.
Respectfully,
Daimler Trucks North America LLC
Now I do myself no favors by admitting this posting took me by surprise, as much from its content as for its existence. I suspect, however, there are many of you who know far more about the background to this than I, so I’m looking to you to help clarify the issue. How about e-mailing me at jtrotti@forester.net, so that I’ll have something intelligent to say next week?