Many years ago, in an article for The New York Times, reporter Matthew L. Wald referred to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) as “California's Pied Piper of Clean Air.”
CARB states its mission as: “To promote and protect public health, welfare and ecological resources through the effective and efficient reduction of air pollutants while recognizing and considering the effects on the economy of the state.”
In his article, Wald said the nation’s most influential regulatory body is not in Washington, DC, but in Sacramento, CA, where CARB is based.
He wrote: Anything in this country with a tailpipe, smokestack or vent is likely to be regulated eventually with rules first worked out by the California Air Resources Board. The board lays down the toughest regulations, forces the biggest changes and generally blazes the path for everyone else, including the United States Environmental Protection Agency. That is particularly true when it comes to cars and trucks and the fuel to run them.
Be Advised
That said, CARB is in the process of looking at fuel-saving aerodynamic improvements for flatbed trailers, tankers, containers and soft-side trailers, and for Class 5 through 7 delivery straight trucks.
Side skirts of some kind for the aforementioned trailers are one main focus. Skirts, plus roof-mounted air deflectors, are being considered for the straight trucks.