The GHG3 rule enacted in 2024 and slated to come into force in 2027 called for stricter greenhouse gas (GHG) emission limits and required 25 per cent of all heavy trucks sold in the U.S. to be zero emissions by 2032.

However, all of that may change significantly after U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration announced In July that it intends to remove all greenhouse gas emissions regulations on light-, medium- and heavy-duty on-highway vehicles.

“EPA proposed to rescind the 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding … (which) is a prerequisite for regulating emissions from new motor vehicles and new motor vehicle engines,” the agency’s website says.

It also said that without that finding, the EPA has no statutory authority to prescribe standards for GHG emissions.

“As a result of those proposed changes, engine and vehicle manufacturers would no longer have any future obligations for the measurement, control and reporting of GHG emissions of any highway engine and vehicle, including model years manufactured prior to this proposal,” the website said.

Canada has consistently adopted U.S. emission regulations for engines to streamline North American vehicle production.

U.S. trucking associations are publicly supporting the move and have previously claimed the Biden- and Obama-era emission rules were unattainable and would add significantly to the cost of new trucks if they came into force.

U.S. government lawmakers and officials announced the plan at a news conference in Illinois on July 29.

“With this proposal, the Trump EPA is proposing to end 16 years of uncertainty for automakers and American consumers,” said EPA administrator Lee Zeldin.

“In our work so far, many stakeholders have told me that the Obama and Biden EPAs twisted the law, ignored precedent and warped science to achieve their preferred ends and stick American families with hundreds of billions of dollars in hidden taxes every single year.”

The EPA is accepting written comments on the proposal until Sept. 21. After that, it is expected to move forward to becoming legislation.

The move is likely to become the subject of lawsuits by climate action groups in the U.S.

Eliminating greenhouse gas engine emissions standards is consistent with other actions the Trump administration has taken to abandon climate mitigation policies.

The U.S. withdrew from the Paris Climate Accord and has eliminated the State Department’s Office of Global Change. It will not be officially participating in the COP30 climate summit in Brazil in November, which is expected to set a global climate agenda for the next 10 years.

At least one publication has reported that representatives of heavy truck and engine original equipment manufacturers have said privately that engines compliant with the 2027 regulation will be brought to market with or without the federal mandate.

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However, as farms grow in size, trucks are getting a lot more use, and lack of reliability can become a pretty big problem, causing expensive field delays. Does the old idea of looking for a bargain, used, high-mileage highway tractor and trailer or tandem truck still make sense? For some it will, of course. But for larger operations it might make a lot more sense to budget for a brand new truck to get the reliability needed for today’s commercial farming operations, in the same way producers consider the need for new, reliable field equipment.

Nathan Yelland, northern truck sales manager at Redhead Equipment in Saskatoon, says a significant percentage of his ag customers are now doing exactly that and opting for new instead of used trucks.

Advantages to buying new

“Traditionally, guys in the ag sector haven’t spent money on new trucks,” he says. “But it’s really the only piece of equipment that works all year round. More and more guys are buying new trucks because they’re tired of their old truck blowing a radiator line when they’re seeding or at harvest. And when you really compare a new highway tractor to a (farm) tractor, they’re pretty inexpensive.”

Expect to pay somewhere just north of $200,000, or a bit more depending on brand, model and features, for a new, reasonably equipped highway tractor.

If a truck can’t deliver seed and fertilizer to the field during seeding or move grain out of the field at harvest, that shuts down field operations just like any other machine breakdown.

“When you get to 25,000 acres, trucks are a major portion of the business,” Yelland notes. “On the farm, a tractor works two seasons, but a highway tractor works all year round. You’re using it for seeding. You’re using it for spraying. You’re using it for harvest. Then you’re using it to haul your grain in the winter and bringing in fertilizer.”

There are other advantages to buying new as well.

Along with new trucks come new features that make it easier for the driver, such as automated manual transmissions, or auto shifts as they’re often referred to. Yelland says most of his farm customers have seen the advantages in that powertrain and few, if any, ever go back to manual transmission models. Large transport fleet operators have moved almost exclusively to automated manuals for improved fuel economy, and many cite reduced maintenance costs due to eliminating driver-related wear and tear due to improper shifting as another benefit.

“Lots of guys really like the manual transmissions because they’re reliable,” Yelland says. “But with Mack, the mDrive has become more of our standard. Almost 90 per cent of our trucks are built with the mDrive automated manual transmission. (In agriculture) if I sold 100 trucks, 95 of them would be the automated manual, the mDrive.” 

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