Trucks like these will be getting significantly better fuel economy in the years ahead.

President Barack Obama wants to markedly improve the fuel-efficiency of both medium- and heavy-duty trucks, a move that he says will address global climate change even while reducing costs for consumers.

The president announced the new move during an appearance today at a grocery distribution center in suburban Washington, a map of the U.S. behind him.  It is one of a series of steps Obama plans to take, with or without the support of a divided Congress.

“Improving gas mileage for these trucks is going to drive down our oil imports even further,” the president said during his visit to a Safeway facility in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. “That reduces carbon pollution even more, cuts down on businesses’ fuel costs, which should pay off in lower prices for consumers. So it’s not just a win-win. It’s a win-win-win.”

The move was originally signaled during a speech last June but the White House is now putting the plan in motion by ordering the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Administration to have a final rule in place by March 2016 – which means that the new rules should be revealed a year earlier in order to handle the mandatory public comment period.  The rules actually won’t take effect, however, until the 2019 model-year, giving manufacturers time to implement the necessary changes.

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It was only 2011 when the government finalized its first-ever fuel-efficiency standards for medium- and heavy-duty trucks.  About 1.5 million of those vehicles are sold annually.  And while heavy-duty models — such as the familiar 18-wheelers that move much of America’s freight cross-country – account for just 4% of the vehicles on U.S. roads, they generate about 20% of the emissions, making them the second-largest source of manmade greenhouse gases.

The rules already in place will boost truck mileage by up to 20% by 2018.  That is expected to save the industry $50 billion in fuel costs – and reduce consumption by about 530 billion barrels of oil.  But the price tag for building the more efficient vehicles needed to meet the 2011 rules should cost another $8.1 billion.

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The specific costs and benefits of the latest mileage proposal weren’t released.  But the administration has stated that the net results will be lower costs overall for the trucking industry – and for consumers, since shipping costs are ultimately worked into the price of everyday goods.

That’s on top of the benefits, stressed the president, of lowering the amount of CO2 and other gases emitted by large trucks.

The proposal generally drew a positive reaction – though officials from both the transport and motor vehicle industries cautioned that safety and other issues must not be ignored in the hunt for better fuel economy.

“Fuel is one of our industry’s largest expenses, so it makes sense that as an industry we would support proposals to use less of it,” said Bill Graves, president and CEO of the American Trucking Association.

As with the 54.5 mpg fuel economy target for passenger cars and other light-duty vehicles due to go into effect in 2025, observers cautioned that the new truck rules won’t necessarily be easy to implement.

“Today’s announcement sets up the next challenge for clean diesel technology to further improve fuel efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from commercial vehicles including medium and heavy duty trucks and buses,” said Allen Schaeffer, the Executive Director of the Forum.  But the group also expressed its support for the latest proposal.

The Tuesday announcement underscored the increasingly aggressive approach by the Obama Administration to moving forward on proposals that have been caught up in a gridlocked Congress. Among other things, Obama said he wants to press forward on a proposal to repeal an annual $4 billion tax break for the oil and gas industry, while using $2 billion in royalties to expand research on alternative vehicle powertrain technologies, including battery, biofuels and compressed natural gas.

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