Why You Shouldn't Delete Your Diesel Particulate Filters and other Emission Controls?

Diesel Particulate Filters (DPFs), Diesel Oxidation Catalysts (DOCs) and Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCRs) for post-2007 medium to heavy-duty trucks and buses have created a lot of controversies. 

On the one side of the argument governments, regulators, environmental groups, and individual people want to see more technology introduced to reduce or even one-day eliminate emissions.

Fleets and owner/operators need to be profitable and assert that this technology has made it so that they can’t make enough money to be profitable. Yet the very people who are opposing diesel engines and by extension, therefore, the trucking industry relies on it every day for the abundant energy they use and to transport the goods that they rely on to live the lifestyle they enjoy. 

It seems like an intractable problem and manufacturers, heavy-duty parts suppliers and repair facilities are caught in the middle.

In episode 6 of The Heavy-Duty Parts Report (airs August 5, 2019) my guest is Dave Jerman of RoadWarrior, a manufacturer of Diesel Particulate Filters (DPFs), Diesel Oxidation Catalysts (DOCs) and Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCRs). Dave says that with proper maintenance and a little bit of education these systems are efficient and doesn't impede the fleets and owner/operators from being able to make money.

The Risks of Deleting the Technology

On the surface, the solution from the owner/operator or fleets point of view was to simply delete the emission control technology.

But, it's not that simple.

To start with let's look at what was written in a Special Report on TruckNews.com:

"In the US, there is enforcement at both the federal and state levels, which would impose massive fines on companies providing EGR/DPF Delete services or the operators who have the work done to their trucks.

Need proof of enforcement? Look no further than a $500,000 fine levied by EPA in January against Edge Products, an American company that sold more than 9,000 devices allowing owners of the model year 2007 (or later) diesel pick-up trucks to operate without their factory-installed diesel particulate filters.

"The Department of Justice will continue to vigilantly protect America’s health and environment through the enforcement of the Clean Air Act standards governing emissions from vehicles and engines,” Ignacia Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division announced in a press release, clearly intended to scare providers of such services. “This settlement holds Edge Products accountable for selling devices that allow consumers to disable the emission controls on their vehicles by requiring the company to pay a penalty, buy back the devices, and perform a project to offset the air pollution resulting from the Clean Air Act violations.”

In Canada, however, the feds and provinces have, until recently, been at loggerheads just to determine who should be enforcing clean diesel regulations. The recent consensus was that the provinces are responsible, but enforcement to date has been non-existent. This black hole of enforcement has spawned the creation of a rapidly growing underground – and in some cases, not so underground – industry, which is profiting at the expense of the environment.

The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) is calling on the provinces to begin enforcing anti-tampering laws and would like to see the feds do their part as well."

(End of the quote but if you would like to read the entire article click here.)

For those Canadian truck owners who are tempted to do the deletion and take their chances, I will tell you that not everyone who does a delete is happy with the results. For example, one of my customers spent $60,000 repairing their turbos and engine after a deletion went wrong.

If deleting the technology is not a viable option what about saving money by replacing parts with remanufactured parts?

The Risks of Remanufactured Diesel Filters

While a remanufactured (reman) DPF may appear to be a cost-effective option, it is important to be aware of what exactly a reman part is, as well as the potential hidden costs and risks that come along with these parts.

What many people don’t realize is that a reman DPF is simply a used DPF that has been cleaned and is being re-sold. You are essentially paying a premium price for DPF cleaning.

On the surface most remanufactured DPFs appear to be the same as any other DPF, the problem is you can never know the condition of the DPF core.

In many cases, the core of a reman DPF has been heavily used and could already be compromised or close to the end of its usable lifespan. While you may save on the initial purchase of a reman DPF, that savings, and more, will quickly be eroded when the part fails and needs to be replaced, often after just a short time in use.

Cleaning a DPF will cost a fraction of the price of a reman part and provides the same end result. When you know the service life and history of a DPF core, it is best to avoid exchanging it for a reman part.

When a DPF cannot be cleaned and needs replacing, it is worth the investment to buy new.

The Solution

According to my guest Dave Jerman, education about emission control technology, a well-designed maintenance program, and purchasing high-quality replacement parts is the solution.

If you would like to listen to the entire interview with Dave Jerman on The Heavy-Duty Parts Report go to heavydutypartsreport.com and subscribe today so you don't miss episode 6 which goes live on August 5, 2019.

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