Emissions system issues have plagued operators for years, particularly after the implementation of diesel particulate filters and NOx sensors in 2007 and 2010, respectively.
During that time, many truck owners looked to get around those issues by buying or holding onto older trucks, or attempting to “delete” the emissions systems in newer trucks. With enforcement getting increasingly intense in crackdowns on the latter (more states are doing smoke opacity inspections, too), and the former getting more difficult with time, owner-operators have turned to other ways to reduce issues that routinely pop up with emissions systems.
Kurt Braunel is the co-owner of Clean Air Fleet with his brother, Clint Braunel. The company offers an oil bypass system and fuel purifying technologies that help keep engines and emissions systems running cleaner. During a presentation last week at the Mid-America Trucking Show, Kurt said there are currently nine states, including California, that are conducting emissions tests during inspections on certain trucks.
“What they’re doing is not really telling people about it until you get pulled over and get a smoke test,” Braunel said. “They’re trying to find damaged, non-compliant trucks … They want to get those trucks off the road.”
Jim Sanderson Jr, with Michigan-based Flint Trucking, told a story about one day when he was working in the company’s shop and a big-bunk truck came in for service. There was a big tank on the back of the truck, Sanderson said, along with a yellow device under the hood on the engine. He started talking to the owner about what the devices were, and found out that they were Clean Air Fleet’s fuel additive and oil purifier systems.
The truck owner told Sanderson his Cat engine's oil still looked fresh at 12,000 miles and that he gets more than 7 miles per gallon. Sanderson was skeptical, but after attending a National Association of Small Trucking Companies convention, visiting the Clean Air Fleet booth and seeing how their system worked, he was sold. He started adding the systems to his own company’s fleet of trucks.
