New EPA rules to decimate small trucking companies, say experts

New Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations aimed at curbing “dangerous pollution” are likely to edge out small- and medium-sized trucking companies from the industry, say industry experts. 

The new regulations, announced by the EPA last week, require all heavy-duty trucks, buses and delivery vans manufactured after 2027 to reduce emissions by 50% by 2045. The EPA’s rule intends to transition diesel-powered vehicles to electric vehicles (EVs), which are “deemed to have zero emissions of regulated pollutants.” 

The EPA boasts that its new restrictions are 80% more stringent than previous standards, and experts say they are likely to be prohibitively expensive for smaller companies who cannot afford to make the necessary changes. 

“It’s an overreach that is indicative of this administration’s tendency to set aside balance to achieve the goals of activists that they are politically aligned with,” former EPA Chief of Staff and senior policy analyst for the Independent Women’s Forum Mandy Gunasekara told the Daily Caller. “It’s going to squeeze out the mid-sized and smaller trucking companies because they’re not going to be able to afford to purchase the new, extremely expensive equipment required to continue to do what they do.” 

But EPA Administrator Michael Regan touted the new restrictions as a matter of “public health” and racism. 

“EPA is taking significant action to protect public health, especially the health of 72 million people living near truck freight routes in America, including our most vulnerable populations in historically overburdened communities,” said Regan. 

But Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association President Todd Spencer echoed Gunasekara’s concerns about the future of smaller companies.  

“If small business truckers can’t afford the new, compliant trucks, they’re going to stay with older, less efficient trucks or leave the industry entirely,” Spencer told trade publication Freight Waves. “Once again, EPA has largely ignored the warnings and concerns raised by truckers in this latest rule.” 

“The EPA is happy to go easy on big trucking since they support regulations that will harm their smaller competitors far more,” added Energy and Environmental Legal Institute Senior Legal Fellow and former Trump administration EPA Transition Team member Steve Milloy. 

The new EPA rule is only one of the Biden administration’s latest pushes toward electric vehicles. 

The United States Postal Service (USPS) also announced plans last week to deploy 66,000 electric vehicles by 2028 in a program expected to cost nearly $10 billion. $1.3 billion will be spent on buying new electric vehicles, $1.7 billion will be spent on charging stations, and $6.6 billion will be spent on purchasing electric heavy-duty trucks and other non-delivery vehicles, reports The Epoch Times. Taxpayers are bankrolling the initiative through Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act passed last year.