The STEER Act Coalition, which was formed on 20 July 2022, to further the passage of the STEER Act, a bill that aims to modernise the shipping and trucking industry by greatly incentivising the adoption of fuel-efficient and fuel-saving technologies for heavy-duty shipping trucks. The members of the STEER Coalition include Aperia Technologies, CiBUS21, Covenant Transportation, DHL, Idle Smart, Link Manufacturing, Stoneridge, The International Council on Clean Transportation, TruckLabs, and Western Express.
The STEER Act is a practical environmental friendly, bipartisan bill that was presented by the House of Representatives and aims to address the stringent climate goals by encouraging invention and private sector-driven resolutions. The STEER Act has designated a $500 million voucher program to compensate the up-front costs of fuel-saving technologies so fleets can choose the technologies which work best for their operations, rather than a one size fits all ideal.
The Act is predicted to provide rapid declines in carbon dioxide emissions and improve the inadequate support provided for the trucking industry as it aims to enhance efficiencies by up to 15%, lowering annual domestic fuel consumption by around 17 billion gallons and reducing carbon-dioxide emissions by 50 million tons. Truckers and shippers are considered the backbone of the American industry and are currently facing a lot of challenges, such as a deficit of drivers, increasing fuel prices, and inflated operating costs, which have been aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The STEER Act is predicted to save trucking companies $24.8 billion dollars annually based on the current fuel prices.
The STEER Coalition acknowledges that the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 is an essential bill to handle both climate change and combat the excruciating inflation, but it overlooks a key prospect to make it far more efficacious at both goals. The coalition is reaching out to legislators who are looking for sensible, convenient, and cost-effective solutions to either get this significant legislation formally introduced as a stand-alone Bill in the Senate as soon as possible or to consider adding the STEER Act to the Inflation Reduction Act as the best blow for the money to reduce the US’s carbon emissions.
