### EPA H e arin g - Phase 2 Gr ee nhouse Ga s Emiss i ons S tandard s

for Medium- and Heavy-Duty Engines and Ve hicl es- Wabash National Statem e nt - A ugust 6 , 2 015 Waba s h Natio n a l Corpo r at ion thank s the U.S. E n v ironmental Protection Agency and the Na ti ona l Highway Tra ffic Safe ty Administration for allowing it t h e opportunity to comment on the joint p roposed ru le m aking Phase 2 Greenhouse Gas Emi ssions Standards and Fue l Efficie n cy Standards for Mediwn- and H eavy -Duty Eng in es and Vehicles. Wabash Nat ional , a publicly traded di versified m a nufacture r h ea dquartered in Lafayette , In diana , is No r th Ame ri ca's lea din g produc e r of semi -tra il ers, h av in g shipped m o r e than 57 , 000 units in 2014 and an expectatio n to ship an even grea t e r number in 20 15. With today's just

- intim e e nvironm e n t , semi-trailers are vital to keep in g th e U.S . eco n o m y movin g, as they d e liv e r nearly 70 percent of a ll fre ight tonnage . Waba s h Nat io n a l co ntinuou s ly seeks inn ovat ive so l utions to im p ro ve fuel e fficienc y on trai le r s and lo we r opera tin g costs for our custome r s. Wabash Nat io n al s uppo rts t h e objectives of the E PA/N HT SA Phase 2 P r oposal and agrees that sensi bl y reducing gree nhou se gas emiss io n s through fue l effic ie ncy solut io n s i s a good thing. Not o nl y are se n sib le fuel effic ie nc y so lu tions good for our ai r qu a li ty, but th ey h e lp to co n serve o ur fue l reso u rces and h ave the potential to con tri b ute to the decrease in the cost o f freight transportat i on by creating g reate r ove r a ll freight effic i e nc y. Fre ight efficiency is , essential ly , haulin g as much freight as possib le at the lowest total cost. Fue l e fficienc y is ju s t one of man y inputs into the o ve rall fr e ight efficie n cy equat io n . Other con s iderat i ons include: • Road Congestion and Travel Speed • Tota l C ub e S p ace and Freight Ca p acity • Vehicl e Dura bili ty and Safety, and • Driver Be h avio r T hus, to ac hi eve overal l impro veme nt s in freight e ffic iency , co n s iderat ion s h o u ld be given t o n o t o nl y prog r ams e n co uraging th e impro ve m en t of fue l effici ency , but also to co mpl ementary programs a nd f un di n g th a t seek t o: 1 

### I• Maintain and i m p rove state and fede r a l hig h way systems; • M ax im i ze th e fr e ig ht c ap ac ity h a ul ed in a n y o n e trac tor -tra il e r loa d

- for exam pl e, the m eas ur es to a ll ow f or pu ll in g t w i n 33' se mi -tra il e r s o n fe d e r a l hi g h ways; • Furth e r e nh ance the safety and durab ili ty of semi

- trai l e r s. T he s u ccess of any of t h ese programs - i ncl ud in g th ese P hase 2 p roposed rul es- wi ll d epe n d. h owever, o n adopting easy to im p le m en t p o li c ies that the co m p lex ity of th e trucki n g in d u stry and the need fo r flexible so l utions. And so, Wabash Na t ional urges the EPA and NHTSA to cont inue to add r ess th e fo ll ow in g th ree co n ce rn s in pro m ulgat in g a fin a l r ul e m akjng: 

### I. T h e tra il e r m a nu fact ure r act u a lly h a s very li tt l e leve r age in d e t e rm i nin g w h at co m po n e n ts are a n d a r e n o t i nclud ed in 

### a spe c ifi c tra il e r . Contrary t o p op ul ar be li ef , a semi-traile r is muc h mo re than a box on wheels. Most trailers are designed for a spec i fic freight appl icat io n a n d are c u sto m -b u j lt for each custo m er. Add i tionally , tr ai le r s are federally regu l a t e d b y le n gt h , w idth an d h e ig ht

- so any inn ova ti o n s t o imp r ove f re ig ht ca p acity o r fue l e fficienc y mu s t a l so co mp ly with th ese fe d e r a l r eg u l a tio n s. As a res u l t of th ese re gul a ti o n s , today's so lu tio n s fo r im provi n g f u e l effic ie n cy re ly o n dev ices attac h ed to t h e tra il ers. Our customers do n ot simply acce p t th e additio n of th ese devices (and t h e res u lti n g add itional cos t ) w i thout proof th at th ey will d e fini t i vely resu lt i n greater overall freight efficiency for the ir opera ti ons. 

### 2. No t a ll trail er type s or f re i g ht ca rri ers w ill 

### b e n e fit f r om a d opti n g f u e l efficienc y t e c hno logies . For exam p le , tank t r a il e r s , fla tbed tr ai le r s, and o the r spec i a l ty trailer types will n o t necessarily see benefits f ro m th e a ddi t io n of aero d yn ami c devices an d Wabas h sup p orts th e E P AINHTSA dec i s io n t o exempt these tra il ers from aero r equire m en t s. 

# In addit iO n, even so m e fleets ope r at in g not hing b u t van semi-t r ai lers wi ll not see benefits fro m th e adop t ion of ae ro d y n amic d evices. T hi s i s beca u se th ese t ypes of tra i le r s an d fleets m i g h t: • Op e r a t e in di ffere nt du ty cyc l es, c reate d by variation s i n ope r a tin g loca ti o n s an d geographies. • They may h aul locally or regiona ll y a n d infreq u e n t ly reach hig h way speeds

- whic h i s where aerodynam ic devices provide payback. • T h ey m ay h ave u nique fre i ght h a ulin g req uire m e nt s, o r ope r ate off-road fo r a portion of tim e. 

### 2 1T he rea l i t y i s, so m e fl eets an d so m e tra il e r types sim pl y wi ll n ever demons t ra t e fue l savings throu g h th e u se o f ae r o d y nami c d e vic es. T hu s, se n s ibl e fin a l regulati o n s s h o uld in c lud e exe mptio n s for p articu lar trai le r typ es o r flee t s- w hether through a fleet exception approva l process o r by i n clu din g a n ex te n s i ve li st of tra il er c h a r acte ri st ics th a t wo uld d e fin e an ae ro d y nami c exe m ption. 3. Incentivize Early Adoption of Fuel E fficiency Device s . W ith th e fe d era l reg ul at i on of the he ig h t , length and weight of our trai lers, our solutions- an d o ur abi l ity to com pl y w ith these reg ul a tion s - r e l y on our c u s t o mer s acceptin g th e a dditi o n of ae ro d y n a mi c d e v ices to t h e f rame o f a tra il er. If m a nu fact ure r s are to be s u ccessful i n influe n c ing th e ir cus t o m ers t o accep t th e in cl u sion of ae rodyn amic dev ices o n n ew trai le r s, the regu l a ti ons a n d comple m e nt ary regu la ti ons or leg i s l a ti on s h o ul d n ot crea te disincen ti ves for co m p li ance. Th u s, we urge th e E P A, N HTSA, ot he r age n c ies an d Cong ress to s up p ort leg i slat io n and a d o pti o n o f ruJ es th a t : • Exempt the cost of devices intended to im p rove fue l effic ie n cy from federa l exci se tax; • Exemp t t h e we i gh t of d ev i ces i nte nd ed t o imp rove fue l e ffi c iency from fe d eral freig ht we ig h t li m its; • Minimize th e tim e , cos t and com pl ex ity of co mpl y i ng w ith the r eport ing ob li gat ions under the Phase 2 rule m aki n g. While we wou ld prefer t h a t compliance be vol u ntary b ase d o n o ur indu s try ' s hi s t o ry of pro ac ti ve introd u c ti o n and a d o pti o n of aero d y n am ic an d wei g ht- sav in g inn ov at ions, and re qu est co n s id e rat io n of s am e, we acknow ledge that there wi ll b e a trai le r req uire m e nt. Abse nt a v o luntary prog ram , re quire d adoption is p r efer red over an u nm anagea bl e averag i ng co m plia n ce approac h . As a t ec hn o logy lead e r in t h e se mi

- trail e r indu stry, W abas h Nat io n al we lco m es any t ec hn o l ogy th at assis t s o ur cus t o m e r s in im p r ovi n g overa ll fr e ig ht e ffi c iency. We s up port the goa l of improv in g ov e ra ll fue l e ffi c i e n cy an d we lc o m e c on t inuin g t o wo rk toge th e r - fl eets, man u facture r s, s uppliers and regulators

- t o deve lop h olistic, prac ti cal solut io n s that benefit a ll stakeh o lde r s.

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