EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The document advocates for the widespread adoption of aerodynamic devices and high-performance tires for heavy-duty trucks to lower fuel consumption and emissions. It highlights that these retrofits can save a typical long-range truck 2,000 gallons of diesel annually and could reduce California's global warming pollution emissions by 17 million metric tons of CO2eq by 2020. The text identifies market barriers such as split ownership and lack of standardized testing, proposing that California lawmakers implement performance-based standards and retrofit requirements to meet climate and air quality goals.

• Commercially available aerodynamic devices, high-performance tires, and wheels can reduce fuel consumption in tractor-trailers by more than 12 percent. For a long-range truck driving over 100,000 miles annually, this results in a saving of 2,000 gallons of diesel per year, with initial costs potentially recovered within one year and a lifetime net gain exceeding $30,000.
• Implementing available retrofit technology on new and existing trucks and trailers could lower global warming pollution emissions by 17 million metric tons of CO2eq by 2020, which is equivalent to removing 2.5 million cars from the road. In California, this would reduce diesel consumption by 5 percent over business as usual, totaling 200 million gallons annually by 2020.
• Nationwide, these efficiency improvements could reduce smog-forming nitrogen oxides by 470 tons by 2020, with 60 tons of that reduction occurring in California. This would specifically assist in meeting national air quality standards in the Los Angeles area and the San Joaquin Valley.
• Widespread adoption of efficiency technologies is hindered by market barriers, including the frequent change of truck ownership, the split ownership of tractors and trailers, and a lack of standardized fuel-economy testing data for new trucks and retrofit components.
• To overcome market barriers, the document suggests California implement policies requiring low-rolling-resistance tires and aerodynamic retrofits, and establish new-truck performance-based standards for global warming pollution.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (n.d.). EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/exec-sum_delivering-the-green.pdf

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. n.d. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/exec-sum_delivering-the-green.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=EXECUTIVE SUMMARY |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/exec-sum_delivering-the-green.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{unionofconcernedscientistsndexecutive, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{EXECUTIVE SUMMARY}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/exec-sum_delivering-the-green.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }