April 18, 2007—The US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) SmartWay Transport Partnership and the “Chrome Shop Mafia” have teamed up to help truck drivers save on fuel costs and cut air pollution. The Mafia, a nationally recognized crew of truck designers and custom fabricators, restore and upgrade older big rigs on Country Music Television’s “Trick My Truck” show.
SmartWay’s kits are combinations of EPA-endorsed fuel- and emissions-savings technologies that can improve truck fuel efficiency up to 15 percent, saving more than $8,000 in fuel costs annually, explains EPA. The products also significantly decrease harmful diesel emissions and reduce exposure to harmful contaminants.
4 State Trucks, an equipment retail outlet and service center in Joplin, MO, that serves as headquarters for the Mafia, will be selling and installing SmartWay Upgrade Kits. Cascade Sierra Solutions Outreach Center in Coburg, OR, and Twolane Customs in Gretna, NE, are also selling the kits, and numerous truck dealers and service centers also sell the individual components for the kit.
The kits cost between $8,500 and $25,000, depending on the technologies selected for installation. Individual components can be purchased and installed for as little as $800. The kit typically ends up saving truckers more money than it costs, even during a loan-repayment period, asserts EPA.
For more information about Smartway upgrade kits and financing available from the US Small Business Administration, visit online.
