The terms “government regulation” and “increased corporate profit” at first glance seem to be a conflicting association. In 2003 federal mandates went into effect to reduce heavy duty truck diesel exhaust emissions, Particulate Matter 2.5 and NOx—emissions harmful to human health, and continued through 2010. Manufacturers spent hundreds of millions of dollars in research to develop technologies to comply with the mandates and passed the cost directly to the consumer. Although the technologies reduced emissions by as much as 96%, the transportation sector suffered a decade of often failed technologies that caused severe budget and maintenance headaches within their operations.
