Elliott Discusses New EPA Chassis Regulations

New Chassis Regulations and YOU

Sign Builder Illustrated, July 2010 Issue, Pages 39-41

By Jennifer LeClaire

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What if your boom truck could make diesel exhaust cleaner than the air coming into the engine? New chassis emissions regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are forcing engine manufacturers to meet that standard.

The EPA 2010 emission regulations mandate a drastic reduction in nitrogen oxide and non-methan hydrocarbons (NMHC) emission levels.  Compliant trucks will feature new after-treatment and in-cylinder technologies, as well as new boosting and thermal management systems.

Chassis that incorporate these new, cleaner technologies are already on the market.  Of course, they come at a price. The new chassis can add $5,000 to $7,000 to the cost of a truck. "The additional cost is going to be a difficult pill for some sign builders to swallow," says Jim Glazer, president of Elliott Equipment (www.elliottequip.com), a boom truck manufacturer in Omaha, Nebraska. "But at the end of the day, these regulations are going to apply to everybody. The sign companies that become early adopters of these regulations will get to claim that they're taking a greener approach to doing business."

...The new emission standards won't impact the way booms and cranes operate, but the regulations do add complexity from a crane installation standpoint. In the past, Glazer explains, manufacturers could re-route an exhaust. "With the new chassis, once the exhaust is installed you can't adjust it; so it's vital that the truck is speced correctly," he says. "You have to work with the crane supplier and the truck supplier to make sure that happens..."

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