President Obama this week imposed new fuel-efficiency standards for medium- and heavy-duty trucks, to take effect in 2016, as part of a drive by the president to use his executive powers to address climate change. Environmentalists welcomed the measure, saying it would help cut carbon dioxide emissions. But the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association said that small trucking companies—which make up about 97 percent of the country’s 1.3 million truck businesses—were already struggling with the costs of new federal regulations, including rules limiting driving hours. “Shock and awe may be the best way to describe what’s happening to the vast majority in trucking,” said a spokesman.
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