The California Air Resources Board (CARB) today has announced that it passed a two-part regulation that adds heavy-duty trucks equipped with sleeper berths to the current prohibition on diesel engines idling for more than five minutes, and requires that 2008 and subsequent model diesel engines be equipped with a non-programmable system that shuts down the engine after idling five minutes.
The sleeper berth part of the rule will apply to current and future trucks, including those that meet the low-emissions EPA 2007 and 2010 requirements. The rule will be effective 2008.
The sleeper berth component will be applicable to trucks registered in and out-of-state. It allows the use of alternative technologies that provide for cab comfort, so long as they are CARB-approved for having zero or very low pollution emissions.
About 180,000 heavy trucks operate in California each day, CARB estimates, with about a quarter of those registered out of state.
