Heavy Truck Equipment vs a Fast Food Hambuger

image courtesy of http://www.overdriveonline.com

How could these two being going head to head? It seems like a strange comparison to make, but its very illustrative. According to a study conducted by the University of California Riverside, which focused on commercial charbroilers found in burger restaurants, "an 18-wheeler diesel engine truck would have to drive 143 miles on the freeway to put out the same mass of particulates as a single charbroiled hamburger patty."

While what that says about fast food hamburgers and their health effects is best left to other blogs, it also says a lot about diesel emissions from heavy duty equipment.

In 2000, the Environmental Protection Agency moved forward with its scheduled plan to make buses and heavy duty trucks cleaner starting in 2007. Since 2007, new bus and truck models have had to follow strict emissions standards. The UCR study, perhaps unintentionally, highlights the strides heavy duty truck equipment and buses have made since the 2007 standards were put in place. It hasn't always been an easy process, but it is undoubtedly a very important one and it is good to see the gains of all that hard work.