Why are diesel trucks / buses / vehicles so freakin dirty?

Question

Every day I come home from work, I see a diesel vehicles belching huge plumes of black smelly soot into the air whenever they change gears or speed up. I saw a bus that had a "this bus uses clean air technology", yet the back was completely covered in black soot. I can't stand getting stuck behind any of them as it almost never fails that they belch black stinky clouds and I have to smell pollution entering my lungs against my will. It comes out so thick, h**l even a t-shirt thrown over the exhaust should help at least somewhat. The exhaust even darkens buildings and whatnot next to roads. Why do they allow these things all over the roads in NJ without some sort of fix/filter or at least something?

Answer 1

Wow....that would be racist if you were talking about people. Besides , you live in Jersey, and it sounds like you live in one of the more populated areas...you grew up in a polluted atmosphere just from being in that part of the world. Get a grip..."I have to smell pollution entering my lungs against my will"...what kind of statement is that? And you're over doing it on the darkened buildings. If that were true, every truck stop in America would be covered in black soot.

The government does mandate truck emissions and they get more strict as they change them. Same with the fuel that goes in the trucks. The sulphur content has gone from 500ppm to 5ppm.  Yes, I agree that some of them need to be taken off the road because they're worn out. But we're talking $100,000 vehicles here. And with fuel almost $5 a gallon, it's better to keep what's paid for. That's the way these guys make their living. You want clean air...move to a better part of the country and get out of that cess pool.

Answer 2

It's just a fuel that doesn't burn very clean. They do have what they call filter stacks which filter out the soot, but most truckers don't use they because they loose horsepower.

Answer 3

the bad part of your statement is the fact this bus/truck is still cleaner than any gas engine due to the fact this black cloud is carbon that is readily converted in nature. the gas vehicle is producing much worse contaminants. a lot of city busses have converted to biodiesel to keep the air cleaner. sorry for the production of the necessary chemical responsible for cleaning your water.

Answer 4

Obviously, you have no idea of the transportation industry.

I would much rather see the heavy particulates (carbon) than the hydrocarbons and other emissions from automobiles. Since you live in NJ, you probably already know that there is no such thing as taking pride in your ride.

In the 11 western states, trucks are kept cleaner..both on the outside and inside the engine.