SmartWay designation means environmental standards met
Oct 1, 2007 12:00 PM
Mack Trucks Inc, Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, is offering its long-haul highway customers Mack Pinnacle tractors certified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) SmartWay program.
The Certified SmartWay designation means these tractors meet EPA's environmental and fuel efficiency standards for excellence, Mack representatives said at the Great American Trucking Show (GATS) in Dallas, August 23-25.
The SmartWay program requires trucks to have a detailed set of components shown to reduce fuel consumption and emissions. Reduced fuel consumption also means less emissions of greenhouse gases, which contribute to global warming.
Customers can now order Pinnacles with a full complement of SmartWay-required components through their Mack Trucks dealers.
“Mack's SmartWay solution is an in-depth approach to providing customers with the most efficient truck available, with very clean engines,” said Jerry Warmkessel, Mack marketing products manager. “Mack has always prided itself on delivering efficiency and productivity. And with more of our customers participating in the SmartWay program for carriers, we are continuing to meet their needs.”
EPA's SmartWay criteria call for specific aerodynamically-enhanced components to reduce drag while the truck is moving, low rolling resistance tires, engines certified to the very stringent US 2007 standards for reduced NOx (nitrogen oxide) and particulate emissions, as well as technologies to encourage drivers to avoid unnecessary idling.
Mack's new MP series of engines, the 11-liter MP7 and 13-liter MP8, are a completely new family of engines designed to meet the 2007 emissions standards. They are the most fuel efficient engines Mack has ever produced, with the horsepower and torque rise Mack customers depend upon to handle the toughest jobs, Mack said.
Other Mack SmartWay components include:
A sleeper cab with full roof fairings and cab side extenders to significantly reduce aerodynamic drag; these features can result in as much as a 15% improvement in fuel economy by moving air efficiently between the back of the cab and the front of the trailer.
Aerodynamically designed mirrors for further air drag reduction.
Aerodynamically designed front bumper to move air smoothly around and under the front of the truck.
Fuel tank fairings, also called chassis skirts; working with the bumper, these fairings can improve fuel economy by up to another 2%.
Low rolling resistance tires, which can result in yet another 1% improvement in fuel economy.
The Idle Free “key-off” HVAC system provides driver comfort and electrical power for amenities without idling the truck's engine, using shore power, a connection to reefer units, or a special bank of batteries.
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