No amusement in ′07 heavy-truck mandates

Tougher standards for emissions and braking take effect in 2007, threatening another roller coaster ride for heavy-truck manufacturers.

In the months before tighter emissions regulations went into effect in October 2002, orders for heavy trucks shot up because fleet operators, wary of the new technologies about to be introduced for compliance with the regulations, wanted to stock up on trucks with proven technologies. In October and the months that followed, orders dropped dramatically as OEMs complied with the mandate by offering only trucks with the new technologies.

It was an amusement ride industry players were forced to board, and almost everyone walked away from it with an upset stomach. More than a year later, they are beginning to feel queasy again as the effective date for another set of even more stringent emissions regulations approaches.