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The Mission of Cascade Sierra Solutions is to conserve natural resources and enhance public health through freight transportation energy efficiency improvements and emissions reduction.
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Sweeping legislation enacted by the U.S EPA that took effect in 2007 makes new trucks 95% cleaner than older legacy fleet trucks operating the last half of their useful life cycle. Diesel engines are very durable and long-lived. Heavy-duty diesel trucks are commonly on the road for more than 25 years moving freight long-haul during their first 5-7 years, eventually moving goods in and out of ports and rail yards as they continue to age.
As truck manufacturers continue to make great strides designing cleaner running and more fuel efficient models, older models continue to roll down the highways, emitting harmful particulate matter for as long as they are in use. For the public to enjoy the healthy benefits of this new legislation and new truck designs, we need to accelerate the process by retrofitting the existing vehicles.
Trucks can be retrofitted with exhaust filtration devices such as diesel particulate filters or they can be retired, replacing them with newer cleaner running engine model trucks. Anti-idling and fuel efficient upgrades can also be employed to reduce fuel consumption and corresponding exhaust emissions by 25%.
There are over 500,000 long-haul tractor-trailer trucks in use throughout the USA. Less than 2% of these trucks have been upgraded with solutions promoted by CSS. These solutions are strategies that have been proven to be effective at reducing fuel consumption or minimizing exhaust emissions by rigorous third party testing or by significant use in the field by heavy trucking companies.
CSS focuses on promoting products that have attained "Verified Technologies" status by the EPA’s SmartWay Transport Partnership program or are certified for use in California by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). Other beneficial fuel savings technologies that are not evaluated by the SmartWay program or CARB may also be promoted by CSS after a review by our Technical Advisory Team (TAT).
There are many reasons why it makes sense to upgrade the legacy fleet of trucks:
Economic:
Each truck retrofit will:
- Save up to 5,000 gallons of fuel per year
- Earn up to $15,000 in increased profits
- Increase state and federal income taxes
Climate Change:
Each truck retrofit will reduce CO2 emissions by 50 metric tons per year
Conservation:
- Reducing dependence on foreign oil
- Conserving energy
- Reducing consumption of a finite resource
Environment:
- Reduce harmful emissions
- Improve visibility
- Mitigate climate change
Public Health:
Each truck retrofit will:
- Eliminate 289 pounds of toxic diesel particulate matter
- Eliminate 5,000 pounds of Oxides of Nitrogen (NO X), a key component of tropospheric ozone (smog)
- Eliminate $12,500 in health care costs
- Reduce asthma attacks
- Reduce respiratory illness
- Based on fuel costs of $3.00 per gallon with a lifetime benefit based on 7 years remaining life on the truck. The Oregon Dept of Environmental Quality estimates health care costs at $2.50 for each gallon of combusted diesel.
The long-haul sector of the truck transportation system is highly mobile, often traveling over 500 miles per day and impacting all of the major urban areas in the nation. Most of these urban areas are classified by the EPA as non-attainment areas for ozone and particulate matter (PM 2.5). The populations in these areas have significant exposures to diesel exhaust. The cancer risk from these exposures is thousands of times the benchmark established by the Clean Air Act. We all benefit by improved energy security and healthier conditions when we join forces to upgrade the existing fleet of freight movement engines.