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Dec 21, 2006 12:02 PM

The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) is touting two studies in the United States that the alliance said support its recommendations to remove regulatory barriers to truck aerodynamic improvements and for governments to introduce and enforce biodiesel fuel standards.

CTA said that the first study, a two-year collaborative effort of the Truck Manufacturers Association and the US Department of Energy, concludes that if the US fleet of Class 8 trucks were equipped with aerodynamic improvements, such as gap enclosure, side skirts, boat tails, and new side mirror designs, fuel efficiency would improve by 10 percent. The study determined that for every two per cent reduction in aerodynamic drag, there is a one per cent improvement in fuel efficiency.

The second study, conducted for the US National Biodiesel Board (NBB), found that one-third of the biodiesel sampled in the US between November 2005 and November 2006 was out of spec because of incomplete processing. The NBB says this is unacceptable and underscores the need for enforcement agencies to take action against those who aren’t producing biodiesel that meets existing standards.