STEER Act Coalition Kicks-Off to Support Access to Trucking Technology, Reduce CO2 Emissions, and Tackle Fuel Price Inflation

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--On July 20, 2022, The STEER Coalition was formed to drive the passage of the STEER Act, a bill that would modernize the trucking industry by incentivizing greater adoption of fuel-saving technologies for heavy-duty trucks. The STEER Coalition members include Aperia Technologies, CiBUS21, Covenant Transportation, DHL, Idle Smart, Link Manufacturing, Stoneridge, The International Council on Clean Transportation, TruckLabs, and Western Express.

The STEER Act is a sensible, bipartisan bill that was introduced by the House of Representatives which addresses our climate goals by encouraging innovation and private sector driven solutions. The STEER Act establishes a $500M voucher program to offset the up-front costs of fuel-saving technologies so fleets can choose the technologies which work best in their operations, rather than a one fits all model.

The STEER Act can provide immediate reductions in CO₂ emissions and badly needed support for the trucking industry as it could improve efficiencies by up to 15%, reducing annual domestic fuel consumption by 4.5 billion gallons and decreasing carbon-dioxide emissions by 50 million tons. Trucking is the backbone of American industry and is currently facing many challenges, such as a shortage of drivers, rising fuel prices, and increased operating costs, which have been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The STEER Act can save trucking companies $24.8 billion dollars annually at today's fuel prices.

As the first order of business, the STEER Coalition recognizes that the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 is an important bill to address both climate and combat rising inflation, but we believe it misses a key opportunity to make it far more effective at both goals. The coalition is calling on legislators who are looking for pragmatic, timely, and costed solutions to either get this important piece of legislation formally introduced as a stand-alone Bill in the Senate ASAP or to consider adding the STEER Act to the Inflation Reduction Act as the best bang for the buck to reduce the US’s carbon emissions.

To learn more about the STEER Act, please visit the website https://www.steeract.org/ or access the full text here.

The STEER Coalition is open to new members that are looking to support the passage of the STEER Act. Organizations interested in joining the STEER Act coalition can reach out to Bess Lauer at [e-mail] or Max Bocheff at [e-mail] for more information.