Engines for Change

The report examines the environmental and economic impacts of heavy-duty truck fuel efficiency in the U.S., arguing that standards increasing efficiency by 40% by 2025 would save billions in costs and reduce millions of metric tons of emissions.

• Heavy-duty trucks are a major source of fuel consumption in the U.S., using more than 21 billion gallons of fuel annually to move freight, with consumer goods accounting for over one-third of that use.
• Stronger fuel economy standards could increase the average fuel economy of trucks shipping goods from 6.3 mpg to 10.7 mpg by 2025, reducing annual fuel use by nearly 9 billion gallons.
• Implementing these stronger standards would prevent over 110 million metric tons of global warming emissions annually, which is equivalent to the emissions of 30 coal-fired power plants.
• The economic benefits include annual fuel cost savings of over $30 billion, which could potentially reduce freight rates by nearly 10% and provide U.S. households with an additional $135 per year if half the savings are passed on.
• Technological upgrades for tractor-trailers, costing an average of $32,000, would be cost-effective, with owners recouping the investment in 13 months and netting $170,000 in lifetime savings.
• Market barriers, specifically the use of fuel surcharges in shipping contracts, discourage for-hire carriers from investing in fuel-efficient technologies because they can pass fuel costs to customers.
• Five major U.S. fleets—FedEx, UPS, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Walmart—could collectively reduce their fuel usage by over 500 million gallons and save $1.7 billion annually under stronger standards.
• Food transportation is the most fuel-intensive segment of consumer goods shipping, with trucking food to stores and restaurants requiring more than 2.5 billion gallons of fuel annually.

APA

Anair, D., Mahmassani, A., & Cooke, D. (2015). Engines for Change. Union of Concerned Scientists. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2015/03/Engines-For-Change-Full-Report.pdf

Chicago

Anair, Don, Amine Mahmassani, and Dave Cooke. Engines for Change. Union of Concerned Scientists, 2015. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2015/03/Engines-For-Change-Full-Report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Anair |first1=Don |last2=Mahmassani |first2=Amine |last3=Cooke |first3=Dave |title=Engines for Change |publisher=Union of Concerned Scientists |date=March 2015 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2015/03/Engines-For-Change-Full-Report.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{anair2015engines, author = {Anair, Don and Mahmassani, Amine and Cooke, Dave}, title = {{Engines for Change}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2015}, month = mar, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2015/03/Engines-For-Change-Full-Report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }