The American Trucking Associations Tuesday asked Congress to support the trucking industry's environmental initiatives, which it says will reduce fuel consumption by 86 billion gallons and reduce the carbon footprint of all vehicles by nearly a billion tons
over the next 10 years.

The Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association, however, issued a release attacking ATA's testimony, saying it "believes recommendations made under the guise of environmental sustainability at a hearing before the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee are meant to eliminate competition, not emissions."

Testifying on behalf of ATA before the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, ATA First Vice Chairman Tommy Hodges, Chairman of Shelbyville, Tenn.-based truckload carrier Titan Transfer, Inc. asked Congress to:
* Enact a national 65 mph speed limit and govern truck speeds at 65 mph or slower to reduce fuel consumption;
* Increase funding for the Environmental Protection Agency's SmartWay program, a valuable voluntary greenhouse gas reduction program designed to increase energy efficiency while significantly reducing air pollution;
* Support national fuel economy standards for medium and heavy-duty trucks leading to lower emissions through reduced fuel consumption;
* Implement financial incentives in the way of tax credits or grants to expedite the introduction of idling reduction equipment across the nation;
* Invest in infrastructure improvements to fix the nation's most critical bottlenecks, easing congestion and saving 32 billion gallons of fuel and reducing carbon emissions by 314 million tons over 10 years;
* Fund research and development in new technologies that will improve average fuel consumption and generate greater fuel efficiency;
* Promote the use of more productive truck combinations resulting in fewer truck miles traveled and saving more than 20.5 billion gallons of diesel fuel and reducing carbon emissions by 227 million tons over 10 years.

"It is in our best business interest to reduce our energy consumption, improve our profitability, and reduce our levels of emissions and greenhouse gases," said Hodges. "Our industry is proud of its environmental record in reducing emissions and transitioning to clean fuels."

OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer begged to differ. "Upping truck weights and mandating speed limiters in the name of sustainability is irresponsible and ridiculous," he said in a statement. "Those things have nothing to do with making trucking more 'green' and everything to do with adding more 'green' to the pockets of large corporations."

OOIDA contends effective environmental solutions begin with addressing inefficiencies in the supply chain such as time and fuel wasted by truckers waiting to be loaded or unloaded and the amount of empty miles truckers must drive.

Last year, the American Trucking Associations committed to a sustainability program. ATA says Implementing all the program's features will reduce fuel consumption by 86 billion gallons and reduce the carbon footprint of all vehicles by nearly a billion tons over the next 10 years.