Comment Log Display

Monday, December 8, 2008

Paul August Trucking

California Environmental Protection Agency
Air Quality Division 
RE: AB 32 Diesel Trucks


Dear Sirs;
My name is Paul August.  I am an owner-operator of one
1981Kenworth log truck.  I have been in the timber industry for
over 35 years and have owned my own truck since 1998.  This letter
is to voice my concerns over your new proposed regulations
concerning air quality which may become a new law.
I sincerely hope you will listen to my concerns and hear this one
voice.

I have always driven the truck I now own and have kept in
excellent condition knowing that it would serve me well until
retirement.  I am 56 years old and retirement is not far away. 
Seven years ago Air Quality suggested that I should replace my
engine instead of overhauling it so that it would be friendlier to
the environment .  So I did.  I now have a 450 Cumins which is a
mechanical engine and is the engine that Air Quality suggested that
I replace my old engine with.  I was told at the time that this
would help clean the air and so I complied.  I am all for helping
the environment when I can.  At that time the logging seasons were
longer (8-9 months) and the demand for timber was high.  I could
afford to make these changes.  However, now the season is less than
five months a year due to increased environmental regulations and
it keeps getting shorter.  The economy is poor, most investments I
have made for my future are gone because of the stock market and
the housing problems. It is almost impossible to make a livable
wage under the current restrictions and length of  season.  

Many truckers have just given up and gone out of the business.  I
see these guys from time to time and their outlook on life isn’t
good and they worry how they will feed their families.  This isn’t
fair or equitable!  The burden placed on the trucking and timber
industry appears to have only one purpose, cease to exist.  

I have paid taxes all of my life and now at 56 years old with the
economy in the tank, no demand for lumber in the housing market and
if these new regulation’s are made into law, you may very well see
me on the street with a tin cup in my hand and not a single dollar
paid to the government in taxes.  This is unfair.  Please think
about what you are doing to this industry at a time it can ill
afford to pay for it.

My truck has a retail value of less then $15,000.00.  This new
filter that these regulations are requiring will cost $15,000 to
$30,000 to retrofit my truck.  This is more then my truck is worth!
 If this new filter should pre-maturely lessen the life of my
engine, which is designed to run up to 600,000 miles and to help
clean the air, then what?  Who is responsible for the cost of my
engine if it pre-maturely blows up because of back pressure ( or
some other unknown reason that may arise) on my engine caused my
this new filter?  No one has been able to answer this question for
me.  Also this new filter will most likely cause a fuel mileage
reduction  which could shorten my per gallon mileage from 5 miles
to the gallon to 3 miles per gallon.  Fuel is the single largest
expense in this business and this could nearly double it.  It seems
counter productive to me.  While everyone is trying to get more
miles to the gallon this regulation nearly cuts our fuel mileage in
half. 

Please consider exempting trucks that work less then six months
out of the year and drive less then 40,000 miles per year.  These
operators cannot afford any new regulations.  If you want to
regulate air pollution then regulate trucks that are built from
2009 and on.

Consider what would happen if you told everyone who owned a
vehicle that was older then 2008 that they would have to retrofit
their vehicles or quit driving them. What do you think would
happen?  If you want to be fair and equitable then do it across the
board. 

Your decisions effect families and people’s lives.  Please
consider my letter and my plea to not put me out of business but to
allow me to continue to contribute to our society and not be placed
in a position to take from it.

Very Sincerely Yours

Paul August,
Paul August Trucking
Owner/Operator