Our Commitment
Trucks Deliver - The trucking industry is the driving force behind the nation’s economy. Nine million people annually help move 11 billion tons of freight — nearly 70 percent of all freight tonnage — and generate roughly 5 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product.
Trucks Respond - In response to concerns over global warming, we’ve taken a proactive and aggressive stance to further reduce the trucking industry’s carbon footprint.
Trucks Commit - We are committed to a bold sustainability program that will have an immediate impact on the environment. We plan to reduce fuel consumption by 86 billion gallons, thus reducing the carbon footprint of the trucking industry by nearly a billion tons over the next 10 years.
This vision and each of our recommendations are practical and achievable. The trucking industry asks for legislative support to achieve maximum benefit from our new program. Trucking is a major industry that, with the right support, can significantly accelerate our contributions to the quality of the environment.
Trucks Deliver a Cleaner Tomorrow
Our program to deliver a cleaner tomorrow has six components:
- Reduce the national speed limit to 65 mph for all vehicles, and install truck governors to limit speeds to no more than 68 mph
- Reduce idling
- Increase fuel efficiency by encouraging participation in the U.S. EPA SmartWay® Transport Partnership Program
- Reduce congestion by improving highways, if necessary by raising the fuels tax
- Use more productive truck combinations
- Support national fuel economy standards for medium- and heavy-duty trucks
The American Trucking Associations firmly believes that advancing these recommendations will significantly reduce the carbon footprint of the trucking industry while moving the nation’s freight more efficiently than ever.