Truck Topics

2007 engines - A time of transition

As you may have heard, big changes are on the way for the 2007 breed of diesel engines.  These changes will help determine what new truck you buy, when you buy and even, if you can afford to buy. 

The crystal ball gazers at the OEM's and truck dealers have been unified in their predictions of substantially higher-priced equipment for those engines built after January 1, 2007.  The promise of reduced-emission diesel engines will come with a substantial price increase, higher than any in memory, say some expediting truck dealers.       

To meet this round of EPA emissions standards, the engine manufacturers' offerings will be a mixture of new and not-so-new technologies, with a variety of acronymically-named systems such as EGR, ACERT, SCR, CGI and a few others. 

One of those new acronyms to get used to is (DPF) or, Diesel Particulate Filter.

Say what?

The '07 engines will use a diesel particulate filter (DPF), that will be standard on all new, heavy-duty  trucks in the United States in 2007. These filters won’t be cheap and will require periodic maintenance to prevent performance and fuel economy losses due to exhaust backpressure.

How it works
The diesel particulate filter, sometimes called a soot or particulate trap, contains a porous substrate, often ceramic, that traps particulate matter from exhaust gas flowing through it. The particulates continually are burned off by exhaust heat in a process called passive regeneration.

When a vehicle’s duty cycle is such that the exhaust gas is not hot enough to burn the particulates – temperature thresholds still are being determined – a small amount of fuel is injected into the DPF to raise the temperature and burn off the particulates. This is called active regeneration.

Since exhaust temperatures can reach more than 1,000 degrees F during active regeneration, a means of locking out this process when it could pose a danger – such as when a vehicle is in a shop – is a safety feature that, so far, Caterpillar and Detroit Diesel have confirmed they will provide. And Cummins, Mack and Volvo have said they currently are exploring control strategies.

After repeated regeneration cycles, the remaining ash in the DPF needs to be cleaned out, at a minimum interval of 150,000 miles. How the DPFs will be cleaned, how the residue will be disposed of, and whether fleets will perform this service or swap-out DPFs on a core-exchange basis, are questions that have not yet been answered.

The filters will add weight and cost, and will need to be cleaned every 150,000 miles at a cost between $75 and $150.  EPA mandates the initial cleaning be made at 100,000 miles. 

The technologies
The 2007 engines will use higher levels of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), except for Caterpillar’s, which will use a second-generation of its Advanced Combustion Emissions Reduction Technology (ACERT) with Clean Gas Induction (CGI) – a lower-volume EGR system in which the exhaust gas is drawn aft of the DPF. This likely will mean even higher engine operating temperatures in most cases.
 
Unlike EGR – which uses exhaust gas to lower peak cylinder temperatures, thus driving down oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions – selective catalytic reduction (SCR) injects a urea/water mixture from a separate, vehicle-mounted tank into the exhaust, upstream of a catalyst, reducing NOx to its nitrogen and oxygen components. A DPF still will be used to curb particulate matter.

Yet another set of initials to remember - ULSD

In October 2005, the EPA finalized new regulations set to make ultra-low sulfur diesel available at fueling stations nationwide by October 15, 2006.
 
The arrival of ULSD this fall, say proponents, will pave the way for cleaner diesel engines nationwide, and will play a leading role in helping cities meet new air quality goals.

"The widespread introduction of this cleaner fuel will help lower emissions from nearly every class of diesel engine. For new heavy-duty highway engines like those in trucks and buses, the combination of ULSD and new engine emissions standards that begin taking effect in 2007 will result in particulate and nitrogen oxide reductions of more than 90 percent from current levels." - Diesel Technology Forum 

However, say the experts, the new fuel will cost more and likely will have fewer BTUs than current fuel, thus causing increased consumption at a time when fuel prices already are at record levels.  The new fuel will reportedly cost 3 to 7 cents more per gallon to produce, although the retail price will be market-driven.

Can't have a new fuel without a new lubricant
A new engine oil, code-named PC-10, must be used, since the ash found in today’s oils can plug DPFs. And it will have to be more resistant to thermal breakdown, since ’07 engines will run hotter. However, the new oil isn’t scheduled to be available until mid-2006.

Every new generation of truck engines has required an upgrade in engine lubricants to meet changes in engine combustion and injection characteristics. Both impact lubricants because combustion blow-by and incomplete combustion, especially at idle, allows unburned fuel to mix in the crankcase.

Truck diesel lube oils are almost universally 15W-40 weight (SAE). No change here. However, the API classification (American Petroleum Institute) letter codes will advance to CJ-4. Currently, as they're under development, you'll see them referred to as PC-10 engine oils.

This next generation of lubricants must also be backwards compatible with earlier diesels which is a challenge for lubricant engineers because the new PC-10s require significantly different oil additive technology avoiding sulfur-derived products.

Look for PC-10 oils to cost 15% to 20% more than today's CI-4 products.

The cost of cleaner engines
It would appear that the area of greatest uncertainty relating to the '07 engine changes is - how much?

"The initial purchase price of trucks with the new engines will go up “in the upper four-figure range,” says Chris Patterson, Freightliner president and CEO, talking about the Class 8 market, but he added that they have not established pricing yet.

From the dealers

Don Portice of Alumi-Bunk Corporation in Woodhaven, Michigan says that he has heard price increase estimates in the $5,000-$7,000
range for the '07 technologies. 

"Used expediting equipment should hold its value a little more strongly because of these changes," says Portice.  "I see a lot of win-win situations are going to take place with new people in the industry buying used equipment along with those same people upgrading and replacing equipment."

Portice says that he has yet to see expediting fleet owners engaged in large-scale pre-buying, but, "talk to me in July!"

Jon Mosier, expediting truck specialist at Freightliner of Knoxville says, "We're not really going to know until the new technology comes out, but we're hearing the costs will rise an additional $3000 - $5000 per truck (Class 7).

He adds, "There are some issues with the DPF's as well.  No one seems to know how maintenance on those will be handled - will the filters be changed out or exactly how  service will be performed."

Mosier says that the larger trucking fleets are currently engaged in "pre-buying", that is, stocking their fleets with '06 trucks before the next year's standards are in force.

The dealers do agree that 2006 should be a banner year for truck sales with possibly a sales slump coming up in 2007.

Bobby Snyder of Fyda Freightliner of Columbus says that the major truck fleets are already involved in the pre-buying strategy, placing their equipment orders now.  He wonders if the expediting market that includes primarily single truck owner-operators and small fleets should be following the same model pre-buying as well.

Snyder says that he has heard prices could increase for the '07's by as much as $5,000-$8,000.  He is unsure of the DPF maintenance protocol, but opines that, "the air coming out of those filters will probably be cleaner than the air going in." 

He concludes by saying that the changes are real and anything built after January 1, 2007 will have to have that filter on it.

Conclusions?
With new equipment to pay for and a new, higher-priced fuel to burn in it, the '07 engine transition will pose challenges to trucking and expediting.  When the cost of tighter emissions control finally trickles down to the general public, it will demonstrate that, while air is free, cleaner air is not.