TodayPledge can help with air quality
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Article RatingIt’s good to see a local firm take the lead on an important issue, so we’d like to compliment Keen Transport on its offer to take the “no-idling” pledge.
Local residents, including clergy people, doctors and medical professionals, have recently taken note of the growth of particulate emissions in the greater Cumberland County area, most likely fueled by the increasing trend toward warehouse development.
And where there are warehouses, there are large diesel trucks, which, unlike cars and light trucks, are not required to carry emissions-control equipment.
Truck terminals have long been a feature of the local landscape, but recent commercial trends have expanded these terminals into cargo transfer points and encouraged the growth of warehousing.
Some business analysts say, with the growth of “just in time” inventory techniques, that interstate highways themselves actually serve a warehouse function since they host so many moving trucks filled with goods.
And anybody who spends a lot of time around big trucks knows they spend a fair amount of their non-moving time with the engine running, because the drivers perceive it as a convenience.
There are no statistics that show how much a ban on excessive idling will reduce localized air pollution. But common sense says any reduction is good news, even if it’s symbolic.
Some measures are being taken at the national level to address this problem, with the upcoming introduction of ultra-low-sulphur diesel fuel and a requirement for diesel engines to carry soot traps. And a representative of the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association told The Sentinel in today’s edition that the trucking industry is working with the federal Environmental Protection Agency on national no-idling legislation.
Meanwhile, the pledge taken by a dozen local trucking and warehousing firms is a good start. We can’t say we know how much of an effect it will have, but given how much we now know about the bad effects of particulates in the air, any reduction will be welcome.
