EPA's SmartWay Transport Partnership and the Chrome Shop Mafia have teamed up to help truck drivers save on fuel costs and cut air pollution. The Mafia, a nationally recognized crew of truck designers
and custom fabricators, restore and upgrade older big rigs on Country Music Television's "Trick My Truck" show.
"Partnering with this well-known group helps EPA reach out to truckers, assisting them with understanding the financial and environmental advantages of our SmartWay program," said Bill Wehrum, EPA's acting assistant administrator for Air and Radiation.
SmartWay's kits are combinations of EPA-endorsed fuel- and emissions-savings technologies that can improve truck fuel efficiency up to 15 percent, saving more than $8,000 in fuel costs annually. The environment also benefits because these products significantly decrease harmful diesel emissions and reduce exposure to contaminants.
Both EPA's SmartWay program and 4 State Trucks, an equipment retail outlet and service center in Joplin, Mo., that serves as headquarters for the Mafia, will begin marketing SmartWay Upgrade Kits this Thursday through Saturday at the Mid-America Trucking Show at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville. Next month, 4 State Trucks will begin selling and installing SmartWay Upgrade Kits and will also showcase the products on its Web site. The kits cost between $8,500 and $25,000, depending on the technologies selected for installation. Individual components can be purchased and installed for as little as $800. Truckers may obtain financing from the U.S. Small Business Administration to pay for the upgrades.
The kit typically ends up saving truckers more money than it costs, even during a loan-repayment period. For example, an upgrade kit consisting of an auxiliary power unit, single-wide tires, and trailer aerodynamics could be purchased for about $16,500. With a five-year loan at 12 percent annual interest, the cost would be about $367 per month while producing an estimated $636 in monthly fuel savings. That represents a gain of $269 per month, or $16,140 over the five-year period.
More about Smartway upgrade kits and financing is available at www.epa.gov/smartway/financing.htm.