TodayFirms pledge crackdown on idling
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Article RatingRepresentatives from about a dozen Carlisle area truck companies and warehousing and distribution firms Tuesday signed an anti-idling resolution aimed at reducing diesel exhaust pollution.
“I think the No. 1 thing we can do is educate our drivers,” said Jesse Keen, vice president of Keen Transportation, Middlesex Township, and cosponsor of the meeting along with the Clean Air Board of Central Pennsylvania. “Fuel is money. When you’re out of the truck, shut it down.”
The voluntary pledge calls on participants to:
• provide anti-idling training to drivers and monitor their compliance.
• post “no unauthorized idling” signs at its facilities.
• inform independent drivers and contracted delivery companies who enter their facilities of their policy.
The air quality in Cumberland County does not meet the standards of the federal Clean Air Act because of too much particulate matter, said Dr. Philip Carey, a member of the Clean Air Board.
The Carlisle-Harrisburg-Lebanon corridor has been named the 24th most polluted metropolitan area in the U.S., he said.
“The source of that particulate matter is the diesel engine,” Carey said.
More severe asthma noted
Carey first became interested in local air pollution seven years ago when he found his asthma patients needed help more often for more severe problems.
John Knox, a professor at Dickinson School of Law, said Pennsylvania has until April 2008 to submit an implementation plan to meet federal air quality guidelines. “The EPA regards anti-idling steps” as a place to start.
Fifteen states have adopted some type of anti-idling law, he added.
“We have taken a more active role in our facility, reminding people they don’t need to let (trucks) run,” Keen said. A sign posted at its guard area that says “Warning — no truck idling area” has not been an issue.
The most common reasons for idling are heat, cold, and the need for electricity to run a TV, refrigerator or electronic equipment.
In response to a suggestion that anti-idling regulations should be standard nationwide, James Runk, president of the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association, said the American Trucking Association is having discussions on federal anti-idling laws.
Dave Metzler said he was happy to sign the resolution on behalf of Carlisle Carrier.
He pointed out that distribution centers should provide a facility for drivers to wait in rather than in their trucks. “We work on idle time all the time,” he said.
Although Carlisle Carrier’s idle time has been reduced to 33 percent, the company is trying to lower it further, Metzler said.
