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Improving Fuel Economy in Heavy-Duty Vehicles

Author

Listed:
  • Harrington, Winston

    (Resources for the Future)

  • Krupnick, Alan

    (Resources for the Future)

Abstract

In September 2011, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency promulgated the first-ever federal regulations mandating fuel economy improvements for heavy-duty commercial vehicles. While the performance-based approach to these rules offers familiarity and assurances of fuel economy improvements, it also has some well-known weaknesses. In this paper, we describe fuel economy technologies for the trucking sector, its economic structure, the details of the new fuel economy regulations, and the controversies they sparked. We then address issues raised in reviewing the accompanying regulatory impact analysis. Next, we highlight some flaws of this form of regulation and suggests a variety of alternative, more market-oriented approaches that might work better.

Suggested Citation

  • Harrington, Winston & Krupnick, Alan, 2012. "Improving Fuel Economy in Heavy-Duty Vehicles," RFF Working Paper Series dp-12-02, Resources for the Future.
    • Handle: RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-12-02
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    File URL: http://www.rff.org/RFF/documents/RFF-DP-12-02.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Winston Harrington & Richard D. Morgenstern & Peter Nelson, 2000. "On the accuracy of regulatory cost estimates," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(2), pages 297-322.
    2. Kenneth A. Small & Kurt Van Dender, 2007. "Fuel Efficiency and Motor Vehicle Travel: The Declining Rebound Effect," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1), pages 25-52.
    3. Ian W. H. Parry & Kenneth A. Small, 2005. "Does Britain or the United States Have the Right Gasoline Tax?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(4), pages 1276-1289, September.
    4. Ian W. H. Parry & Margaret Walls & Winston Harrington, 2007. "Automobile Externalities and Policies," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 45(2), pages 373-399, June.
    5. Gruenspecht, Howard K, 1982. "Differentiated Regulation: The Case of Auto Emissions Standards," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 72(2), pages 328-331, May.
    6. Lawrence H. Goulder & Ian W. H. Parry, 2008. "Instrument Choice in Environmental Policy," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 2(2), pages 152-174, Summer.
    7. Richardson, Nathan, 2011. "Playing without Aces: Offsets and the Limits of Flexibility under Clean Air Act Climate Policy," RFF Working Paper Series dp-11-49, Resources for the Future.
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    Cited by:

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    3. Luechinger, Simon & Roth, Florian, 2016. "Effects of a mileage tax for trucks," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 1-15.
    4. Chiriboga, Gonzalo & Chamba, Rommel & Garcia, Andrés & Heredia-Fonseca, Roberto & Montero- Calderón, Carolina & Carvajal C, Ghem, 2023. "Useful energy is a meaningful approach to building the decarbonization: A case of study of the Ecuadorian transport sector," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 76-87.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    fuel economy; CAFE; trucks; heavy-duty vehicles; technology-based standards; regulatory impact analysis; RIA;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply; Prices
    • Q52 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Pollution Control Adoption and Costs; Distributional Effects; Employment Effects
    • Q55 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Technological Innovation
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy
    • R48 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Government Pricing and Policy

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