Scania P94 and Other Trucks Must Get Greener, Faster, say Company Execs

Trucks on the road must get greener, faster. This is the message from Swedish truck manufacturer Scania, whose older trucks including the scania P94 are, the company admits, still way behind in terms of cleaner engine emissions.

Scania is one of the biggest and most popular manufacturers in the truck industry, and have often been recognised for their innovations in greener, cleaner power. The company has announced that the current rate of transition to more fuel efficient, environmentally-friendly vehicles in the commercial and industrial sector is too slow. Vast numbers of older vehicles like the scania P94 are still in use, even though they no longer meet the exacting standards on emissions set by European officials.

Presenting at the Scania sustainable transport conference in Brussels, executives for the company put forward that as higher regulations are put in place, nothing is being done to upgrade or replace the vehicles that do not meet them. One of their findings was that now the Euro 5 emissions standard has come into effect across much of Europe, half of the commercial vehicles on the road in Europe barely meet the Euro 1 or Euro 2 standards from years before.

Scania CEO Leif Ostling set out a strategy at the conference to help combat this problem: “Given the slow pace of progress in renewing the vehicle population, it is more important to make full use of all available means to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. These include longer truck and trailer combinations, better logistics systems, alternative fuels and driver training with efficient support systems."

Of course, as with so many strategies related to environmental thinking, it is far easier said than done, despite the unanimous feelings that change is required. Many believe that education is the key. Better driver training has bee suggested, so that the operators of scania trucks themselves that be held accountabekl for the target of reducing fuel consumption by 20 per cent. Others feel that providing practical guidance to fleet operators will help them understand green technology better, and help to adhere to new policies a they are legislated.

Europe's transport chiefs acknowledge this is a hard battle, and that there are no quick fixes. Michel Savy, director of the Observatory of Transport Policies and Strategies in Europe, said: "Unfortunately there is not one solution, and we must patiently adopt one after the other.”