The ATA says it supports a voluntary adoption of a blend of 95 percent petroleum-based diesel and 5
percent biodiesel. Any ratio that calls
for higher biodiesel content would
be too costly for truckers, due to the
high cost of soybean oil that is the
primary feedstock, Moskowitz says.
Biodiesel has some drawbacks,
truckers say. It causes performance
problems in cold weather, and its 9
percent lower energy content compared with diesel means a truck
must consume more biodiesel than
it would traditional diesel to generate the equivalent amount of energy,
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the ATA argues. For example, a trucker
would have to burn 11 gallons of biodiesel
to generate the same energy as 10 gallons
of petroleum-based diesel would.
Ironically, biodiesel prices have been
steadily rising in recent years, mirroring
the increase in soybean prices caused, in
part, by agribusiness’s diverting more soybeans to fuel production and away from
traditional uses (which generate a lower
return). Currently, biodiesel prices are
more than $1 a gallon higher than comparable diesel prices.
Congress has subsidized biodiesel production through a $1-a-gallon tax credit,
but it doesn’t fully offset the higher
biodiesel cost relative to petroleum-based
diesel, according to Moskowitz. The credit expired on Dec. 31, and while the House
has passed an extension, the Senate, at this
writing, had yet to act. Although the
Senate is eventually expected to follow the
House’s lead, until it does, the biodiesel
industry has “effectively been shut down,”
says Moskowitz.
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Cost barriers
An August 2009 member survey by the
National Private Truck Council (NPTC)
underscores the schism between the desire
to make operations more environmentally
friendly and the willingness to make the
use of alternative fuels a part of the plan.
The survey found that 70 percent of the
respondents were involved in some type
of “green” initiative. However, the respondents were decidedly ambivalent when
asked about biodiesel use, according to
the comments made available to DC
VELOCIT Y by the NPTC. One biodiesel user
switched back to petroleum-based diesel
after the rise of soybean oil prices pushed
the cost of biodiesel out of range. Another
respondent says the up-front cost of buying a vehicle capable of running on alternative fuels outweighed any potential
benefits of using the fuels. NPTC declined
to release a copy of the survey results, saying it was proprietary to its membership.
Truck costs are a particular concern
when weighing the pros and cons of natural gas, another alternative fuel. Natural
gas supplies are considered plentiful and
are largely indigenous to North America.
However, the cost of a truck capable of
