Medium & Large Truck Fuel Efficiency Part 2

Medium & Large Truck Fuel Efficiency Part 2. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture.

The trucking industry is integral to the ag industry. Without the ability to move products from the farm to the market the ag industry would cease to exist. On Tuesday President Obama ordered the development of tough new fuel standards for the nation's fleet of heavy-duty trucks.

OBAMA: Improving gas mileage for these trucks are going to drive down our oil imports even further.  That reduces carbon pollution even more, cuts down on businesses' fuel costs, which should pay off in lower prices for consumers.

New standards for medium- and heavy-duty trucks were passed in 2011 and take effect this year and last until 2018 but the President said in his State of the Union Address that they wanted to build on that.

OBAMA: Today, I'm directing the Secretary of Transportation, Anthony Foxx and Gina McCarthy, the Administrator of EPA their charge, their goal is to develop fuel economy standards for heavy-duty trucks that will take us well into the next decade, just like our cars.  And they're going to partner with manufacturers and autoworkers and states and other stakeholders, truckers, to come up with a proposal by March of next year, and they'll complete the rule a year after that.

He says this is an ambitious goal and has extended some assistance.

OBAMA: So to help our businesses and manufacturers meet this new goal, we're offering new tax credits -- both for companies that manufacture heavy-duty alternative-fuel vehicles and those that build fuel infrastructure so that trucks running on biodiesel or natural gas or hybrid electric technology, they'll have more places to fill up.

That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.