Ever-more onerous vehicle emissions regulations, particularly on diesel trucks, have been hampering the American economy and driving up the cost of everything from produce to lumber for decades. One of the quickest and most effective ways the Trump administration could bring down costs for American families would be to end the years-long regulatory assault on diesel engines.

Essential Tools

Diesel semi-trucks are the workhorses of the American transportation and logistics industry. Diesel engines power more than three-fourths of all commercial vehicles in the United States. In 2022, trucks moved nearly 73 percent of the nation’s freight by weight. From the eggs you had for breakfast this morning to the chair you’re sitting on right now, chances are it was moved to market by a truck.

Heavy-duty diesel pickup trucks also play a key role for businesses large and small. Towing companies rely on them to rescue stranded motorists. Construction companies use them to haul equipment. Farmers use them to transport livestock. Utility companies use them to get the lights back on after a bad storm. If you see someone plowing a church parking lot after a blizzard, chances are it’s in a diesel truck.

And, of course, millions of Americans turn to diesel trucks to haul their boats and RVs for recreational purposes every year.

Regulatory Onslaught

Thanks to new ultra-precise manufacturing techniques and engineering breakthroughs, diesel engines are significantly more powerful and efficient today than even just a few years ago. But government emissions regulations have made them needlessly expensive and unreliable, hurting Americans’ pocketbooks.

While the Environmental Protection Agency slowly began creating a web of complex emissions regulations in the 1980s and 1990s, things really took a turn for the worse in the 2000s.

The first major blow came in 2006, when the EPA began mandating ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel. This change reduced the lubricity of the fuel, leading to premature wear of fuel system components such as injectors and pumps.

Then, in 2007, another round of EPA regulations forced manufacturers to implement Diesel Particulate Filters (DPFs). These filters often clog, causing increased engine backpressure, reduced fuel efficiency, and frequent downtime. The 2007 regulations also forced engine makers to adopt more aggressive exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) systems, which effectively force an engine to eat its own exhaust. EGR coolers are infamous in the world of diesel trucking for clogging, failing, and leading to costly repairs. EGR cooler replacements can cost as much as $4,500 for a pickup and $8,000 or more for a semi-truck.

Three years later, in 2010, the EPA required an even greater reduction in emissions. As a result, diesel manufacturers were forced to implement diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) systems, which inject a highly corrosive liquid directly into the engine’s exhaust stream. Along with purchasing expensive diesel fuel, truck owners must also now buy DEF, which adds extra complexity, maintenance costs, and potential failure points to engines.

That’s a lot of technical talk to describe one simple yet devastating end result: government regulations made diesel trucks significantly more expensive and more likely to break down.

The EPA’s regulatory assault on diesel engines wreaked havoc on manufacturers as well as drivers and consumers. Some exited the diesel engine market altogether. Honda stopped offering diesel engines in North America in the mid-2010s, Volkswagen and Audi significantly scaled back their diesel offerings around the same time, and industry leader Caterpillar stopped producing diesel engines for semi-trucks after 2010.

Added Costs, Endless Headaches

Diesel engines, once known for their durability and ability to run for millions of miles with minimal maintenance, now require constant monitoring and costly repairs to maintain compliance with these stringent regulations, leading to increased costs for consumers.

Maintenance cost increases as a result of the EPA’s 2007 and 2010 emissions standards have been staggering. One private long-haul fleet manager reported that monthly repair bills for the exhaust systems on his fleet skyrocketed from around $1,200 per month in 2004 to $27,000 per month by 2018 – a 1,837 percent increase. His customers – and ultimately, American consumers – are the ones who end up paying those costs.

Additionally, emissions compliance parts have made diesel engines significantly more expensive to produce. While manufacturers typically don’t release the cost of specific components, replacement EGR coolers alone can run into the thousands of dollars, and the exploding cost of emissions compliance is reflected in the ballooning price tags for new diesel trucks.

These price increases gave rise to “delete kits,” or after-market parts that truck owners could use to remove the emissions compliance components of their vehicles. But the EPA quickly cracked down on these kits, levying fines of up to $5,000 per non-emissions compliant part. In one case, a diesel shop was slapped with a $750,000 fine for deleting emissions controls on big rigs.

What Trump Can Do

Rarely has there been such a direct causal link between overzealous government regulation and increased costs for consumers. Americans have a right to breathe clean air, but as is always the case with unchecked government regulation, the EPA’s diesel engine emissions requirements have gone far beyond reducing air pollution. They may actually be leading to worse environmental outcomes as trucks and emissions components wear out more quickly and are dumped in landfills.

President Trump now has the opportunity to rebalance environmental concerns with the economic interests of diesel truck owners and operators. The administration has already indicated that it plans to cancel the Biden EPA’s latest emissions standards and de facto EV mandate. Another important step would be revisiting the EPA’s 2007 and 2010 regulations, allowing diesel engine manufacturers to produce trucks that are more reliable and cost less to maintain.

This would result in enormous and immediate savings for trucking companies that they could then pass on to consumers. By making diesel trucks great again, President Trump can take a major step toward fulfilling his core campaign promise of lowering prices for the American people.

Shane Harris is the Editor in Chief of AMAC Newsline. You can follow him on X @shaneharris513.