According to commercial vehicle truck sales, June 2018 was a banner month for Class 8 truck sales. June sales are 140 percent above June 2017. 41,800 Class 8 trucks were sold in June while the 12 month period almost saw about 411,000 Class 8 trucks sold. Unlike passenger cars, the prime driver for truck sales is the business climate, and the U.S. economy has been growing at a healthy clip. An expanding economy means demand for freight transportation including over the road trucking driven mostly by Class 8 trucks. Over $10 trillion worth of goods were shipped by truck, according to the most recent data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau.
While these new trucks are delivering for America, they are also hard at work reducing emissions and saving fuel. Thanks to decades of innovation and research, technologies capable of reducing truck emission to near-zero levels are now out on the road. A Class 8 truck that comes with these technologies developed to meet stringent U.S. EPA tailpipe emissions standards can reduce emissions of NOx (an ozone forming compound) by 2.3 tons per year, relative to previous generations of technology. A growing fleet of these clean diesel trucks will greatly contribute to further emission reductions.
New trucks are near-zero in emissions and are also much more fuel efficient. Today, 98 percent of Class 8 trucks are powered by a diesel engine and more than 95 percent of trucks will still be powered by diesel into the future, according to recent research. Between 2014 and 2018, the first ever fuel economy rules for commercial vehicles are expected to save over 500 million gallons of fuel and reduce 270 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions. These are benefits provided by a variety of technologies developed to make new technology diesel powered trucks save more fuel. Manufacturers are hard at work to continue to develop advanced technologies to reduce emissions and save fuel.
As the economy expands, it takes ever more trucks to deliver for America. If current trends continue, more new Class 8 trucks will enter service at the fastest rate recorded. Thanks to decades of innovation and research, these trucks will get the job done while reducing emission, saving fuel and eliminating greenhouse gas emissions.
