As a garbage truck driver…

As a garbage truck driver and light vehicle owner, I am happy to see the change coming for the elimination of passenger vehicle testing. However, I think certain realities need to be considered in regards to heavy vehicle testing. Trucks have a variety of uses, but in particular, I'd like to focus on waste collection vehicles. As a driver for over 10 years, I have seen the emission control systems of collection vehicles exhibit major issues causing enormous costs to fleets and customers. Now, the heavy truck emission control systems work well on highway trucks, but waste collection units have a very narrow and specific focus, resulting in a preponderance of idling and extremely short distances. This combination results in the emission control systems being ineffective or inoperable. Therefore, when it comes time to test and enforce the operation of these units, it's suspected they will largely fail, not because the systems themselves are not maintained, but merely because of how they are operated. I would propose that an exemption be given specifically for short distance, residential waste collection vehicles under proposed new DriveClean programs. The result would be increased efficiency of the vehicles, decreased costs to fleets, municipalities and ultimately individual families, and reduced taxes. It will also allow increased productivity of collection vehicles, which means they are done sooner, off the road sooner each day, and overall reduced emissions in total. By allowing exemptions for waste collection vehicles, you can also significantly reduce collisions and hazardous road conditions for drivers when one of these units inevitably experiences an emissions system failure. Again, I would propose the exemption, or alteration from some testing regulations would apply only to residential, short distance, waste collection vehicles, for which the current emission control systems are ineffective or inoperative anyway.