posted on Monday, May 05, 2008 6:28 AM
by
Jeremy RVARC
Positive Repercussions
Via
McClatchy:
WASHINGTON — When long-haul trucker Rusty Wade pulled his rig into a Missouri truck stop last week, he noticed something strange.
Of the 50 or so 18-wheelers parked in the lot, only five had their engines idling.
"That's only because of the high price of fuel," said Wade, an independent owner-operator from Brundidge, Ala. "A year ago there would only be about five that weren't running."
Setting aside, for a moment, the economic drivers behind this, anti-idling campaigns have been a major component of transportation-related air quality programs across the country. In Virginia,
ShenAir has been tackling this issue for some time, primarily from the cost-savings angle of reducing fuel consumption. While I'm sure they've had some success in inducing voluntary measures, it appears that its going to take the pain of unusually high gas prices to drive what is, in the end, a healthy behavior change.