Dear Mr. Hunt,
I am not a resident of the state of Oregon, however I am an enthusiast and a supplier of Aftermarket Performance Parts. Almost all the parts that I sell typically make diesel pickups more efficient.
The typical aftermarket Air Intake system we sell, from brands like Banks, aFe or S&B filters, not only make vehicles more efficient, they also lessen your global foot print by creating less waste in your landfill and dependency on foreign oil.
By utilizing a re-usable aftermarket air filter, most guaranteed to work for 1 million miles (try to get an OEM paper filter to do that), you’ll see less OEM filters discarded into the trashcan. Let’s take a look at how many OEM air filters that aftermarket systems like this will save from your landfills. Over the average life of one diesel equipped pickup truck, the OEM filter is changed every 15,000 miles(or once a year). Times that by the average lifespan of the truck (400K miles), and that’s almost 27 OEM air filters that will not end up in your landfills. Now multiply that by the thousands of trucks that are running these types of kits just in your state, and you have saved a mound of used up paper filters. If you want to take that further, by using systems like these, less trees need to be cut down, less semi’s on the roads hauling lumber to the mill, less water – power – energy used to manufacture OEM paper filters, further lessens your global footprint.
Now let’s take the fuel efficiency into account. On average, these “Aftermarket” intakes systems increase fuel mileage by One Mile to the Gallon over the OEM intake that they replaced. The average diesel truck get’s 15 mpg and the average tank size is 29 gallons. That is 435 miles per tank of fuel. Now at 16 mpg after the installation of an ”Aftermarket Air Intake” the mileage range is extended to 464 miles. That truck is now traveling 29 additional miles on the same tank of fuel. This is the kind of resourcefulness that America needs to utilize, not discourage through poorly written legislation.
More importantly you need to consider of the amount of jobs that your state could lose due to this type of law making. I would think this type of ban would put several Performance, Tire and Customization shops out of business if they are not allowed to sell the products that their customers require. I would estimate the job loss in the thousands based on my simple Googling of custom automotive and tire shops in Oregon. In tough economic times like these, more job loss would put further strain on your states welfare system and on those families affected.
My wife made a good point while reading this, she said “That would be like the state telling me I cannot replace my Air Conditioner for a more efficient one because the Contractor would be using up the energy savings in transportation and installation…” It just doesn’t make sense.
Please rethink this legislation.
Sincerely,
Chad Hall
Alligator Diesel Performance
[email protected]
Call 1-866-255-7212
or Visit us @
www.alligatorperformance.com
