Press Release

For Immediate Release

OOIDA testifies at subcommittee hearing on glider regulations

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association represented the interests of small-business truckers at a joint hearing today with the Subcommittee on Oversight and Subcommittee on Environment Hearing – Examining the Underlying Science and Impacts of Glider Truck Regulations.

The hearing was held to discuss the effects that glider vehicle regulations have on truckers.

Collin Long, OOIDA director of government affairs, testified on behalf of the Association’s more than 160,000 members and shared how changes to federal policies such as glider vehicle regulations dramatically affect the industry.

OOIDA would like to see glider vehicles exempted from Phase 2 regulations of the Environmental Protection Agency because it would provide small-business truckers affordable, reliable and efficient options when purchasing new or used trucks.

In July of this year, the EPA announced it had decided to delay through 2019 the enforcement of a cap that would limit the number of glider trucks that could be built. The agency said the delay was intended to reduce the impact on the industry until a resolution could be reached. However, a lawsuit prompted the EPA to pull back the decision not to regulate.

OOIDA has been supportive of the glider industry, contending that gliders give small-business truckers an affordable option when compared to new trucks. According to the Association, gliders are at least 25 percent less expensive than new commercial motor vehicles and can save owner-operators tens of thousands of dollars.

Long told the subcommittee that owner-operators typically purchase glider kits with remanufactured engines because it allows them to diagnose and repair mechanical issues without the need for a dealer technician or specialized equipment. Also, the fuel efficiency of glider kits is either closely matched, or in some cases, equal to or better than a new truck.

Emission standards have increased the cost for new trucks and the technology has often been found to make them extremely unreliable. If a truck becomes a liability by routinely being inoperable, the owner must absorb the cost of lost productivity, while also paying for the necessary repairs.

The option of purchasing a glider kit can sometimes mean saving a small trucking business and should remain a viable option.